Man Utd in initial difficulties, title contenders march on | News

LONDON (AP):

TWO GAMES in the Premier League season have already passed and Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag is already in the focus of criticism again.

Joao Pedro was able to head home unhindered in the fifth minute of added time to give Brighton a 2-1 home win over United yesterday, a game that showed that the inconsistencies that have plagued Ten Hag's team have not yet been eradicated.

After United failed to clear a corner, Pedro was on hand to head home Simon Adingra's cross, giving Brighton a second consecutive win at the start of their first season under 31-year-old manager Fabian Hurzeler.

The two leading title rivals also secured their second victory in the second race with great efforts.

Erling Haaland scored his seventh Premier League hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Ipswich, while Arsenal celebrated a 2-0 victory at Aston Villa – a team they lost to twice last season before losing the title to City by two points.

Like Ten Hag, Sean Dyche could also feel the early pressure after his Everton side suffered another heavy defeat, losing 4-0 at Tottenham.

Also yesterday, West Ham won 2-0 away against Crystal Palace, Fulham claimed a 2-1 home victory against Leicester and Nottingham Forest won 1-0 at Southampton.

The defeat in Brighton will be particularly hard for United to take, as the visitors had a potential winning goal disallowed in the 70th minute due to an almost comical offside.

Alejandro Garnacho's shot from a tight angle was on its way into an empty net when it deflected off the knee of a sliding Joshua Zirkzee just before crossing the goal line – causing the goal to be disallowed as the Dutch striker was offside.

“We thought we had scored the winning goal and it was so unlucky that the ball was on the line,” said Ten Hag, the Dutch manager who was under huge pressure last season but was retained by United after leading the team to the FA Cup title.

The debate over whether he is the right man to lead United is likely to be reignited after a defeat that was due to both missed chances and a poor defensive performance.

“You can't give away points so unnecessarily,” said Ten Hag. “If you defend the goal like we did, you lose points. … We have to do better on certain occasions.”

Former United striker Danny Welbeck gave Brighton a 32nd-minute lead before Amad Diallo equalised on a counterattack in the 60th minute, cutting in from the right and his shot deflected into the net off the sliding Jan Paul van Hecke.