Ten Hag Urges Manchester United To Sharpen Up After Disappointing Brighton Defeat

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Erik ten Hag expressed frustration after Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday. Joao Pedro scored a stoppage-time winner for Brighton, handing United their first Premier League loss of the season. Amad Diallo had equalised Danny Welbeck's opener, which marked Welbeck's 100th club goal and his sixth against United.

Ten Hag emphasised the need for Manchester United to be more clinical in both attack and defence. He told BBC Sport: "Absolutely [tough to take]. We should at least have taken a draw. And we could have won with the Garnacho [disallowed] goal. We created many other chances to score a second goal."

United had a potential equaliser disallowed when Joshua Zirzkee was offside and got a knee to Alejandro Garnacho's strike on the line. Despite this, Ten Hag did not blame Zirzkee but highlighted the need for better performance in both penalty areas.

"[We conceded] two soft goals. We have to be more clinical in both boxes, we have to look and act better there as a team," Ten Hag stated. He acknowledged that while they took control of the game and created good chances, they ultimately left without any points.

Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Manchester United has lost more Premier League games due to goals scored in the 90th minute or stoppage time than any other team (six). This is in stark contrast to their record from the first 30 seasons of the competition, where they only lost two such games.

The match statistics do not fully support Ten Hag's perspective. While United had slightly more possession at 52.3%, Brighton outshot them 14 to 11 and had higher expected goals (2.12 to 1.41).

Brighton's Performance

Brighton capitalised on their opportunities, with Joao Pedro scoring the decisive goal in stoppage time. Danny Welbeck also made an impact by scoring his milestone 100th club goal against his former team.

Ten Hag noted that despite conceding an unnecessary goal, United showed resilience by fighting back and creating several chances to score more goals. However, he admitted it was disappointing to lose after such efforts.

"We showed resilience after conceding an unnecessary goal but we fought back, and we had our opportunities to score more goals," Ten Hag said. "Of course, it's disappointing when you go on to lose."

The defeat highlights Manchester United's ongoing issues with late-game collapses and their need for improvement in critical moments of matches.

Manchester United must address these weaknesses as they prepare for upcoming fixtures in the Premier League.