Manchester United’s FA Cup campaign was over at the first hurdle today as Brighton & Hove Albion left Old Trafford with a 2–1 third-round win, a result that piled more misery onto a turbulent week for the hosts and rewarded Brighton for a display built on discipline, sharp finishing and calm game management.
United had spells where they controlled territory and the ball, but Brighton were far more decisive in the moments that mattered, striking once in each half through Brajan Gruda and former United forward Danny Welbeck before a late Benjamin Sesko header briefly teased a comeback that never truly caught fire.
The tie started at a frantic pace and United should have been in front inside the opening minutes. Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele was forced into two important early stops as United pressed aggressively and tried to feed runners in behind, but those missed openings proved costly. Brighton settled quickly, began playing through the first line of pressure and punished a familiar looseness at the back when they took the lead. Gruda finished a well-worked move to make it 1–0, silencing the home crowd and shifting the mood instantly from anticipation to anxiety.
United responded with plenty of possession but struggled to turn it into clean chances. Bruno Fernandes tried to quicken the tempo with early passes into the channels, while Diogo Dalot pushed high to create overloads, yet Brighton’s shape remained compact and organised, forcing United into wide areas and hopeful deliveries rather than clear routes through the middle. There were half-chances and moments of promise, but too many attacks broke down with a loose touch or a final ball that didn’t quite land.
After half-time, United needed a strong response but instead found themselves chasing a bigger deficit. Brighton doubled their advantage on 64 minutes when Welbeck produced a clinical finish against his boyhood club, continuing his habit of hurting United in big moments. The goal felt like a gut punch: United had been huffing and puffing, but Brighton were the side showing the cutting edge.
Darren Fletcher turned to his bench, sending on Joshua Zirkzee and teenage winger Shea Lacey in an attempt to inject urgency and imagination. Lacey did exactly that at first, running directly at defenders and lifting the atmosphere, and United finally created the kind of pressure that had been missing. Their lifeline arrived on 85 minutes when Fernandes swung in a corner and Sesko rose strongly to power a header that slipped underneath Steele and into the net to make it 2–1, giving Old Trafford something to cling to heading into a tense finish.
But the late momentum was halted in cruel fashion. Lacey, booked earlier for an overzealous challenge, picked up a second yellow card for dissent after reacting angrily to a foul decision, leaving United to see out the remaining minutes with 10 men and extinguishing much of the momentum they had built. There were still frantic moments, including a few desperate balls thrown into the area, but Brighton stayed composed, slowed the game down where they could and defended the box with authority to close it out.
After the match, Fletcher admitted the early Brighton goal “knocked the stuffing” out of his side and criticised the lack of speed in United’s passing, saying he challenged the players at half-time to move the ball with more tempo. He also described the group as fragile and said they must “dig deep” to salvage something meaningful from the season, stressing that Champions League qualification now has to be the clear target. Fletcher was also unhappy with the officiating around the late red card, arguing the second booking was harsh and that the officials didn’t manage key moments well.
Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler, in contrast, praised his squad’s togetherness and the impact of the players who came into the team, saying they “deserved to play” and took their opportunity. He acknowledged Brighton needed a little luck not to concede in the opening minutes, but felt the early goal brought calmness to their performance and believed his side controlled the game better in the second half. Hürzeler also spoke about ambition in the competition, insisting Brighton want to go as far as possible and must be ready to hit their highest level in the next round.
For United, the defeat means another season of cup disappointment and more questions about direction and confidence, while Brighton head home with a memorable Old Trafford win, earned through ruthless finishing, strong structure and the composure to withstand a late wobble.
