Brighton 2-3 Manchester United: United survive late scare to continue unbeaten start

Following an international break that saw on-loan forward Michelle Agyemang hit by an ACL-injury, Brighton faced an in-form Manchester United. The Red Devils came into the match unbeaten since early September, with their last defeat coming away in the Champions League. Since then, Marc Skinner’s side have thrashed Everton 4-1 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and persevered to take a point from both Arsenal and Chelsea.

A game where both teams wanted to press high and play out from the back was always going to create excitement.

In the opening period, neither team could claim dominance. The Seagulls captain Maisie Symonds saw a headed effort go over the bar, whilst Jess Park’s shot for United ended up in the arms of Brighton goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.

Intriguing duels across the pitch included United’s Swedish left-back Anna Sandberg against Brighton’s dynamic forward Kiko Seike , as well as Symonds against the physical French striker Melvine Malard.

United settled into the game heading towards the end of the half, looking more dangerous. The Seagulls , meanwhile, had a fair number of half-chances but struggled with quality in the final third.

Just before the break, the visitors broke the deadlock with an effort from Elisabeth Terland that may have just been offside. With no VAR in operation, United had the lead.

Following the break, The Red Devils continued to assert their dominance, forcing errors from a Brighton side insistent on playing out from the back under all circumstances. The home side were occasionally sloppy, holding onto the ball for too long, whilst United were sharper in their decision-making.

They got their second following some dangerous link-up play between Park and Ella Toone, and it felt like the game was out of sight for the away side as Brighton had thus far lacked the final pass to create much danger.

The tide turned as substitute Maelys Mpomé met Marisa Olislagers’ pass, with her powerful shot travelling slightly wide. This chance had an invigorating effect on the hosts who got a goal back minutes later through former Chelsea player Fran Kirby. Olislagers, who had been central to the hosts’ creativity going forward, was afforded the space to slip the ball through to Kirby, who found the bottom left corner, beating Phallon Tullis-Joyce in the United goal.

Brighton pushed for an equaliser but it was United who struck again, as Park slipped away from the Brighton defence and slotted the ball into the box, where Lisa Naalsund was waiting to shoot home.

With barely ten minutes left on the clock, the game was not over. A rare mistake from United captain Maya Le Tissier saw Kiko Seike afforded the opportunity to loop the ball over Tullis-Joyce into the top right corner.

The hosts used the final two minutes to apply pressure to the United back line, peppering the area with efforts. Their final opportunity was a free-kick that ended in the hands of Tullis-Joyce to give the visitors all three points.

BHA : Nnadozie; Minami, Hayes, Rule, Olislagers; Seike, Symonds, Cankovic, Kafaji; Kirby, Camacho.

MUN : Tullis-Joyce; Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Sandberg; Miyazawa, Park, Toone; Malard, Terland, Zigiotti Olme.