Manchester United vs Brighton LIVE: Premier League result and final score after Ronaldo ends goal drought
Manchester United 2-0 Brighton: Follow live reaction as Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes sealed an important win for Ralf Rangnick
Follow live reaction from the Premier League as Manchester United returned to winning ways and Cristiano Ronaldo ended his scoring drought against 10-man Brighton.
Jadon Sancho had the first chance of the match after being slipped in by Ronaldo’s back-heel, only to be denied by Robert Sanchez’s outstretched arm.
It was Brighton who had the better of the opening half, however, with David de Gea producing a stunning stop to deny Jakub Moder’s header for the impressive visitors.
But the match turned shortly after the restart and in the space of 90 seconds, as Ronaldo fired a brilliant finish past Sanchez to open the scoring and Lewis Dunk was sent off for bringing down Anthony Elanga.
Bruno Fernandes added a second to seal the win in stoppage time. The result moves Ralf Rangnick’s side ahead of West Ham and back into the Premier League’s top four, while ending a run of three matches without a win in all competitions.
Follow live reaction below:
RED CARD! Webster is off
Man Utd 1 - 0 Brighton
55 mins: Brighton are down to 10-men. The referee initially awarded Lewis Dunk a yellow card but was met with protests from the Manchester United players. Bruno Fernandes led the charge and got booked as well for dissent.
The VAR calls the referee over to the pitchside monitor and after looking at the replays he overturns his own decision, pulls out a red card and sends off the Brighton centre-back.
VAR check for a possible red card
Man Utd 1 - 0 Brighton
53 mins: Another mistake from Brighton sees Lewis Dunk caught in possession on the edge of his own penalty area by Anthony Elanga. The ball comes loose and rolls into the box as Elanga chases after it. Webster grabs his shoulder and pulls him down. Is this denying a goalscoring opportunity?
GOAL! Man Utd 1 - 0 Brighton (Ronaldo, 51’)⚽️
51 mins: Great goal from Cristiano Ronaldo! Yves Bissouma is caught in possession deep in Brighton’s half by Scott McTominay who pokes the ball out to Ronaldo. He brings the ball inside, shimmies wide of Adam Webster and laces a right-footed effort into the right corner of the goal. Ronaldo’s goal drought is over! Manchester United lead at Old Trafford.
Man Utd 0 - 0 Brighton
48 mins: Cucurella puts a throw in from Dalot behind for a Manchester United corner. The ball is swung into the box and almost drops for Maguire. There’s an appeal for handball as the ball hits one of the Brighton defenders but the most noise comes from the crowd. The referee lets play go on and the visitors work the ball out of their own half with a pass up to Maupay.
Second half: Man Utd 0 - 0 Brighton
Kick off: Bruno Fernandes gets the game back underway at Old Trafford. The home side need to up the tempo of their attacking play and push Brighton back into their own half. The hasn’t been any changes in personnel at the break.
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Man Utd 0 - 0 Brighton
Brighton have never won away against Man Utd in all competitions, drawing two and losing 11 of their 13 visits.
In the top-flight, they’ve taken just one point from a possible 24 at Old Trafford - through one draw and seven defeats - losing all four of their visits in the Premier League.
Will that change tonight?
Man Utd 0 - 0 Brighton
Nothing to separate the two teams at half-time. Brighton have been impressive. They’ve had more possession, more chances and more shots on target. The only thing they didn’t manage was a goal and that was mainly thanks to David De Gea.
Half-time: Man Utd 0 - 0 Brighton
45 mins: No added time needed at Old Trafford to close out the first half. Brighton will feel unlucky not to be in front after David De Gea denied Jakub Moder from close range.
The visitors were by far the better side over those opening 45 minutes. Manchester United manged just one attempt on target and couldn’t find any rhythm at all in the attacking play.
Man Utd 0 - 0 Brighton
44 mins: Dalot wins the ball and shakes off a tackle near the halfway line before sending it up to Elanga. He drives towards the box and is clipped by MacAllister just outside the box. United win a free kick and have the opportunity to take a shot at goal.
Ronaldo and Fernandes both set themselves to take the set piece. It is Ronaldo who takes the free kick and he sends his shot into the wall where the ball deflects out for a corner.
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