History took the victory over form and performance as Man United laboured to a 2:0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
Some things Never Change!
United had beaten Brighton in each of the last six meetings between the sides and somehow managed to make it seven tonight.
Ahead of the game, Man Utd had played out very depressing 1:1 draws in three consecutive games, one of them costing them AN FA Cup round of 16 place.
Each of those three teams are inferior to Brighton. Middlesbrough are currently in the Championship, Burnley are battling relegation while Southampton are below Brighton in the table.
Each of those games followed similar patterns; United would dominate the first half, create a ton of chances and concert just one of them,tail off in the 2md half and concede an equaliser from which they don’t recover from.
The game against Brighton was quite different, this time it was the away side creating decent openings and dominating possession.
Given the way their past three matches had went, United fans might have feared the worst when the first half ended 0:0, after all they usually become worse in the 2nd half. But, Up stepped Cristiano Ronaldo.
Today was not one of those night when the Portuguese looked frustrated with everyone around him. He Seems to have calmed down a bit on the pitch these days, trying to lead by example with his own performance. Brighton was a great performance for him.
His goal was reminiscent of Ronaldo the explosive winger, the one who had played for United between 2007 and 2009 and Real Madrid between 2009 and 2014.
His overall contribution to the cause cannot be understated, he pressed well and was twice rewarded with balls he won high up the pitch. Jadon Sancho and later Bruno Fernandes wasted both chances. When Bruno missed his own chance, it seemed like it would be one of those nights, again, for Man United.
They were however aided a bit by a red card to Lewis Dunk who hacked down Anthony Elanga as he tried to pull clear and get a 1v1 situation with Sanchez on goal.
Despite the red, Brighton persisted and even struck the crossbar late in the game through Moder, who had earlier had a brilliant header astonishingly saved by David de Gea.
With the introduction of Pogba, Man Utd gained a bit more control of the game but Brighton were no pushovers. Alex Telles had to be introduced for Sancho as Rangnick became desperate for the three points.
In the 96th minute, Pogba set up Bruno Fernandes with a quick free kick which the Portuguese used to atone for his earlier miss, scoring his 8th goal of the season and helping Pogba to 8 assists.
It was a very good result, a scoreline that flattered United by all means to be honest but who cares as long as they move into the top four after the win.
Tonight, the difference between the two teams was Ronaldo who Brightoned the night.
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