Brighton were five times unlucky at the Amex Stadium on Saturday against a very unsettled Manchester United side as they hit the woodwork five different times in their agonising loss to the Red Devils after stoppage time.
Neal Maupay got downgraded from hero to villain as he was adjudged to have handled the ball in stoppage-time to gift Manchester United a penalty, which Bruno Fernandes converted to secure a 3-2 victory at the Amex Stadium.
Brighton initially thought they had scored a deserved point when Solly March headed home to cancel out Marcus Rashford’s brilliant solo goal and level the score at 2-2 in the fifth minute of added time.
But Maupay, whose first-half Panenka penalty was cancelled out by a Lewis Dunk’s own goal, after a VAR review was adjudged to have blocked Harry Maguire’s goalbound effort with his arm at full time.
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Referee Chris Kavanagh, who blew the full-time whistle because he missed the incident, eventually gave the penalty call as the pitchside VAR review made the call.
Bruno Fernandes then dispatched into the top corner to seal the unlikeliest of victories for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s below-par side in the 100th minute.
Watch the match highlights below
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Graham Potter of Brighton said: “I thought we scored with the last kick of the game – I don’t know where the extra time came from to be honest. We are bitterly disappointed to concede the way we have; at the time we have.
“We played with real courage and spirit – I’d say we deserved something from the game, I would say that’s an understatement.
“We had more chances and shots and hit the woodwork a few times but sometimes football’s not fair – I have to accept that, as much as it’s painful.”
United’s manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says: “I don’t think we ever scored after the final whistle, no that’s right. But of course their handball was before full-time so it’s the probably right thing to do and for us it’s a big thing.
“We’ve discussed it this season – that we need more late goals. We were the team that lost the fewest games apart from Liverpool last season, but we drew too many, and to get two extra points after conceding the equaliser so late on it’s a great boost for us.
“We’ve got to be honest enough to say they created the most chances, they had big chances, so we need to improve a lot going forward.”
Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)
- Brighton hit the woodwork five times in this game, the most any team has done in a single Premier League game since Opta started recording this data (2003-04).
- Manchester United have won each of the last four Premier League meetings with Brighton, their joint-longest winning streak against a current top-flight side (also 4 v Leicester).
- Since the start of last season, Manchester United’s Premier League games have produced 20 penalties, the most of any team in that time (15 for, 5 against).
- Manchester United have given away a penalty in consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March 2009; it’s the first time the Red Devils have conceded one in both of their first two games to a Premier League campaign.
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