Man Utd 4-2 Brighton: Cunha & Mbeumo's goals secure their third win in a row

Manchester United capitalised on recent momentum by beating Brighton at Old Trafford as Matheus Cunha scored his first club goal in a frantic and somewhat controversial 4-2 win.

Match Report

United were forced to see off a late surge from Brighton, as Mbeumo settled matters with one of the final touches of Saturday's game.

Matheus Cunha scored his first United goal 24 minutes in, bending his effort around Jan Paul van Hecke before Casemiro added a second 10 minutes later thanks to a wicked deflection off Yasin Ayari.

Benjamin Sesko and Bruno Fernandes, making his 300th United appearance, then saw chances go begging before Mbeumo put the hosts 3-0 up in the 61st minute.

But with Ruben Amorim's team seemingly heading towards a routine victory, former United forward Danny Welbeck dragged Brighton back into it with a stunning free-kick, moments after Mbeumo had an effort saved onto the post. 

Charalampos Kostoulas headed in their second in the second minute of stoppage time, yet Mbeumo had the final say when he rifled into the roof of the net in the 96th minute, sealing United's fourth consecutive home win.

Data Debrief: Amorim starts to build up some steam

Despite the nervy nature of this victory, United have now won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since May/August 2024, doing so in a single season for the first time since February that year (four in a row).

And a dominant first-half performance saw them take a 2+ goal lead into the break in the third consecutive league game at Old Trafford, the first time that has happened since November 2008.

The high-scoring nature of the match was not reflected in the expected goals (xG), though, with United finishing with 1.13 xG from 13 shots (nine on target), to Brighton's 1.07 xG from 17 efforts (five on target).

The Red Devils ended their visitors' three-game winning streak at Old Trafford, and now United (nine wins) vs Brighton (eight wins) is the most-played fixture in Premier League history never to see a draw.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Cunha hits the side netting after mbuemo found him in the area

8' Brighton with a good chance, but Welbeck can’t find the target

11' Bruno's header wide out

15' Lammens catches a good save

17' No penalty given for Man Utd

19' Mbeumo is brought down; but nothing given

24' GOAL! Matheus Cunha gets his first goal for United!Man Utd 1-0 Brighton

30' Fantastic run from Minteh into United’s box, but he’s eventually crowded out

34' GOAL! Casemiro doubles the lead with a deflected strike! Man Utd 2-0 Brighton

41' Yellow Card! Carlos Baleba booked

45' Šeško with a great chance, but he fires over

56' Ayari passes the ball to Man Utd player

59' Lammens , that looks like an insane save

61' Mbeumo's low finish has put Man Utd three! Man Utd 3-0 Brighton

71' Mainoo and Dorgu replace Casemiro and Amad

72' Yellow Card! Patrick Dorgu booked

75' Welbeck curls in a free kick to goal against former team! Man Utd 3-1 Brighton

89' Lammens makes a great save!

92' GOAL! Man Utd 3-2 Brighton (Charalampos Kostoulas)

90+7' GOAL! Man Utd 4-2 Brighton (Bryan Mbeumo)

Line-ups

Man Utd XI: Casemiro, Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes, De Ligt, Dalot, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Senne Lammens, Benjamin Šeško, Amad Diallo Traore, Yoro

Subs: Mount, Mazraoui, Altay Bayındır, Ugarte, Malacia, Zirkzee, Mainoo, Patrick Dorgu, Ayden Heaven

Brighton XI: Welbeck, Dunk, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Georginio Rutter, Maxim De Cuyper, Mats Wieffer, Jan Paul van Hecke, Bart Verbruggen, Yasin Ayari, Carlos Baleba, Yankuba Minteh

Subs: Milner, Steele, Olivier Boscagli, Diego Gómez, Diego Coppola, Stefanos Tzimas, Charalampos Kostoulas, Tom Watson, Nehemiah Oriola