Manchester United 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion: Pogba and Rashford score to maintain winning run

Manchester United recorded their sixth straight Premier League win on Saturday, seeing off Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 at Old Trafford. First half goals from Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford meant that Pascal Groß’s late strike was nothing more than a consolation, as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær maintained his perfect start to life as United manager.

United controlled the ball from the off, though they had to wait until past the quarter-hour before giving the Seagulls a serious scare. A slide-rule pass from Ander Herrera bought Ashley Young the space to pull the ball back into the Brighton box, though Rashford’s effort was blocked on the line by Shane Duffy.

Brighton had been defending well, though their hard work was undone by some clumsy play from full-back Gaëtan Bong midway through the first half. He bundled Pogba over in the penalty area, and the French midfielder stepped up to smash beyond David Button and open the scoring.

The game certainly wasn’t entirely one-way, though the Seagulls lacked the requisite quality in the final third. That certainly wasn’t true of the Reds, who went 2-0 up before the break courtesy of some brilliant play from Rashford. Receiving the ball from Diogo Dalot on the left side of the Brighton box, Rashford skipped inside before curling into the top corner from an unlikely angle.

The second goal proved something of a sucker-punch, with Brighton struggling to raise the tempo in a flat start to the second half. The first good chance was United’s, though Jesse Lingard poked a whipped Rashford cross wide of the target. Some fancy footwork from Anthony Martial bought him the space to shoot a few minutes later, though his effort was just off-target. United were in total control.

But if they thought the game was over, Pascal Groß reminded them otherwise with 20 minutes left. An inventive cross from Davy Pröpper bounced in the box before being poked home by the German, as the Seagulls set up a nervy finale at Old Trafford. But despite controlling possession Brighton failed to carve out another scoring opportunity, and the game ended with United 2-1 ahead.