August 08, (THEWILL) – Erik Ten Hag’s tenure as manager at Old Trafford began with a humbling 2-1 loss at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, demonstrating that it will take much more than one preseason to regain some of the old United flair.
Although the atmosphere at United seemed to have improved over preseason, their performance on Sunday was not much different from the uninspiring football that Ralf Rangnick frequently put out and Brighton deservedly led by two goals at halftime with United struggling to handle their fluidity.
Pascal Gross, who has twice scored game-winning goals against the Red Devils, netted a brace this time to further cement his torturing of the Red Devils. A sloppy Alexis MacAllister own goal cut the deficit in half in the second half, but Brighton held on for their first-ever victory at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been sitting out due to lack of fitness, made a difference when he came in to replace Fred but even he could not find a way through. Ten Hag must have now come to a sobering realisation about how far United is from posing a title threat to those in contention.
Next Saturday, United will travel to Brentford in another attempt to get the Ten Hag era off with a winning result. On the same day, Brighton will host Newcastle United.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
