Brighton gave their chances of European football a massive boost as they beat Manchester United 1-0 on the South Coast. The Seagulls moved to 6th in the table as a result of the victory, leapfrogging both Spurs and Villa and are now only four points behind fifth placed Liverpool. They however have two games in hand over Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Both teams had glorious opportunities to put themselves on the scoreboard in the first five minutes of the game- Antony’s effort went wide in the 2nd minute, while Mitoma smashed one straight at David de Gea from close range in the 4th minute.
United had the better opportunities in the first half, but Brighton grew into the game in the second half, and it was the Red Devils who were forced on the defensive towards the end. Unfortunately for them, Luke Shaw handled the ball in the area in second half stoppage time, and Argentine World Cup winner Alexis MacAllister kept his cool to tuck away the resulting spot kick.
Brighton will now host relegation threatened Everton in their next fixture while United will travel to London to take on former manager David Moyes’ West Ham on Sunday evening.
