Man United 1-3 Brighton: Minteh, Mitoma and Rutter punish lacklustre Red Devils defending

Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh were the stars of the show at Old Trafford, as Brighton ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Manchester United, with Ruben Amorim's side once again showing their defensive frailties at the back.

On the day the Theatre of Dreams mourned the passing of Denis Law, arguably one of the greatest ever players to wear the red shirt of United, it was Fabian Hurzeler's side who put on a show and left supporters of the Red Devils with more questions than answers about the direction the club is heading in as they remain in 13th in the table.

• Story of the Match

Ruben Amorim made three changes from the side that rescued three points against Southampton on Thursday evening, with Joshua Zirkzee, Diogo Dalot and Harry Maguire coming in for the out-of-form Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez.

 Danny Welbeck returned for the Seagulls against his old-club, with Yankuba Minteh also coming back into the side for Simon Adingra.

Nevertheless, it only took just five minutes for Brighton to take the lead.

Carlos Baleba's outstanding ball over-the-top of the United defence was latched onto by Mitoma, who breezed past Mazraoui before unselfishly sliding the ball across the six-yard box for Minteh to tap in his third Premier League goal of the season. Once again, United had gone behind early at Old Trafford.

However it did not take United long to get back on level terms. A Brighton mistake led to a penalty, with Amad pouncing on a loose-pass by Bart Verbruggen.

Amad fed the ball into Zirkzee, who was industriously hauled-down by Baleba, which left referee Peter Bankes with no choice but to point to the spot, where United captain Bruno Fernandes levelled things up.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the penalty would turn out to be their only shot on target during the whole 90 minutes, as the first-half petered out with both sides going in level at the break. Cue the second-half, and Fabian Hurzeler's side once again started the better.

Brazilian striker Joao Pedro thought he had given his side the lead, but after consulting the VAR, the referee deemed that Dutch defender Jan Paul Van Hecke had clipped Diogo Dalot in the build-up, which spared United’s blushes. 

However, the travelling supporters would soon rejoice as Minteh this time turned provider for Mitoma.

After a great-turn in the middle of the park by Yasin Ayari, he fed the Gambian who was able to dig out a cross to the back-post, where the Japanese international had a tap-in after loosing Noussair Mazraoui for the second-time of the afternoon.

 Diogo Dalot's failure to stop Minteh's cross raises the desire of the Red Devils urgently needing reinforcements for the left-wing back position in Ruben Amorim's system.

Turning to the bench, Amorim brought on Toby Collyer and Alejandro Garnacho to try and spark his team into life, but Brighton were resolute in their defending, with Van Hecke doing brilliantly to deny Zirkzee in the 74th minute after he was found in the box by Amad, who was kept-quiet after his breath-taking 12 minute hat trick against the Saints last time out.

However, Brighton were able to put the game to bed in the 76th minute, with Andre Onana providing an absolute gift to former Leeds United striker Georginio Rutter, after the goalkeeper failed to gather a simple driven cross into the box from Ayari.

Rutter simply had to tap-home to put the Seagulls on their-way to another victory against United, having beaten them 2-1 earlier in the season when the Red Devils were under Erik Ten Hag's management.

Nevertheless, another poor result for Ruben Amorim, who will be surely hoping that he can strengthen his squad in January with a number of potential departures expected to happen, with Marcus Rashford, Antony and Tyrell Malacia all being linked with moves away.

• Player of the Match - Karou Mitoma

The Japanese winger was sensational today alongside Yankuba Minteh, causing Noussair Mazraoui all sorts of problems, and continuing his-good form after scoring against Ipswich last-time out. 

The 27-year-old unselfishly set up his fellow-teammate for the first-goal and had a simple tap-in for the second.