Manchester United’s troubled start to the season took another unexpected twist as they lost limply 3-2 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Woeful defending led to two Brighton goals in two first-half minutes as Glenn Murray and Shane Duffy outsmarted United’s 117 million pound ($149.21 million) back four to demonstrate why manager Jose Mourinho had sought to upgrade it.
Eric Bailly was particularly exposed and, having conceded a needless corner that led to Duffy’s first Premier League goal, he blundered in to foul Pascal Gross, who put away the penalty via David de Gea’s leg on the stroke of halftime.
Although Romelu Lukaku had earlier reduced the deficit with a trademark header, United looked ill-equipped to mount a comeback and Paul Pogba’s injury-time penalty, after Marouane Fellaini was brought down, made the scoreline closer than the match.