BRIGHTON – Two games into the season, and the scrutiny is already back on Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Joao Pedro was left unmarked to head home in the fifth minute of injury time to give Brighton a 2-1 home win over United on Saturday in a game that showed that the inconsistencies that plagued Ten Hag’s team still haven’t been eradicated.
After United failed to clear a corner, Pedro was on hand to head home a cross from Simon Adingra to secure a second straight victory for Brighton at the start of the season under new 31-year-old coach Fabian Hurzeler.
It’s a result that will be extra tough for United to take as the visitors had a potential winner ruled out in the 70th minute for an almost comical offside.
Alejandro Garnacho’s shot from a tight angle was heading into an empty net when it deflected off the knee of the sliding Joshua Zirkzee just before it crossed the line – causing the goal to be ruled out as the Dutch striker was in an offside position.
“We thought we scored the winning goal, and it’s so bad luck that the ball is on the line,” said Ten Hag, the Dutch manager who was under heavy pressure last season but was retained by United after leading the team to the FA Cup title in the last game of the campaign.
The discussion about whether he is the right man to lead United will probably be rekindled after a loss that was the result of both missed chances and poor defending.
“You can’t drop points so unnecessarily,” Ten Hag said. “If you protect the goal like we do, you drop points. … We have to do better in certain occasions.”
Zirkzee had come on as a substitute to score an 87th-minute winner against Fulham in United’s season opener but the summer signing was once again on the bench at Brighton, with Ten Hag playing Bruno Fernandes as a false nine instead.
It was a former United forward who opened the scoring, as Danny Welbeck was on hand to slot in a cross from Kaoru Mitoma in the 32nd.
Welbeck nearly doubled Brighton’s lead when his header from a corner hit the crossbar in the 58th, and United equalized from a quick counterattack just two minutes later.
Amad Diallo cut in from the right and saw his shot deflected into the net by the sliding Jan Paul van Hecke.
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