Ruben Amorim’s side fell to a fifth defeat in eight games with a familiar set of issues plaguing his side against Brighton at Old Trafford.
Yankuba Minteh opened the scoring five minutes in before captain Bruno Fernandes equalised with a penalty. But Brighton scored twice in the second half as United’s defence failed to deal with a cross that was finished by Kaoru Mitoma before goalkeeper Andre Onana let the ball slip from his grasp and Georginio Rutter nipped in for a third.
That means Amorim’s side are now 12 games across all competitions without a clean sheet and after a recent uptick in performances, the manager is left to again ponder how to improve his side as up front, they also struggled to convince. They now sit 13th in the Premier League after 22 matches.
Here, Mark Critchley breaks down the action from Old Trafford.
Where does Amorim go from here?
After the spirited point at Anfield and the penalty shootout win at the Emirates, then even after a largely unconvincing 80 minutes in midweek, United had finally strung a run of positive results together.
But Amorim always said there would be a storm, and clearly, the clouds have not yet lifted after yet another defeat, and yet another at Old Trafford — Amorim’s fourth in his short tenure.
This is a team still waiting to string two league victories together for the first time this season. Is it really any surprise they remain rooted in 13th place? Forget about Europe: they are now seven points off the top half.
United’s only 90-minute wins since early December have come against Viktoria Plzen, Southampton and — bizarrely — Manchester City, but Amorim’s side were trailing in all three of those games too.
It is becoming increasingly tempting to write much of the league season off, if that could ever be acceptable for a club of this stature as early as January.
But such is United’s inherent inconsistency, it is hard to see how Amorim turns this into a positive season before the summer.
(Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)
What are United’s defensive issues?
Remember when United could keep a clean sheet? No? We don’t blame you. The last shut-out was a whole 12 games ago, during the 4-0 win over Everton in early December.
There’s been a lot of focus on United’s set-piece defending over the weeks since, and while that has been awful at times, there are still gaps in open play opponents have sought to exploit.
Brighton took advantage of one after just five minutes: when Matthijs de Ligt stepped up out of the defensive line, as at least one of United’s centre-backs is wont to do, Carlos Baleba sent a long ball over the top. United were exposed, Mitoma ran in behind and Minteh applied the finish.
United’s midfield was easily played around for the second, with Ayari granted acres of space to run into after too easily beating Ugarte. Dalot appeared to play Minteh onside then failed to stop his cross, while the less said about Mazraoui’s far-post defending the better.
United’s defensive record was steadily improving — four conceded at Tottenham, three against Bournemouth, two against Wolves, Newcastle and Liverpool, just one against Arsenal and Southampton.
But the goals against went back in the wrong direction again here and it’s hard to see where the next clean sheet comes from.
And as often as Onana has bailed his team-mates out on occasions this season, there have also been familiar errors like his spill to gift Georginio Rutter with Brighton’s third.
How did Zirkzee do up front?
The most eye-catching of Amorim’s three changes from the win over Southampton was Joshua Zirkzee’s inclusion up front, with the out-of-sorts Rasmus Hojlund dropping to the bench.
This was Zirkzee’s first start since that night against Newcastle. Other players might consider being substituted after half an hour to jeers from their own supporters as the end of their Old Trafford career.
Zirkzee’s last few performances suggested it could be the rebirth of his, after scoring the winning penalty in the Arsenal shoot-out last weekend and changing the game off the bench on Thursday night.
Zirkzee did well here in the first half, particularly in his pressing and hold-up play — something that Hojlund has particularly struggled with recently. He also won the penalty which Fernandes converted for United’s equaliser.
But the 23-year-old remains more of a link-up player than a penalty-box poacher, and was as much part of an anaemic United attack as anyone else, struggling to bring team-mates into the game in the second half.
There remains no clear answer to the question of who United’s starting centre-forward should be.
(Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Whereas Hojlund has recently struggled when battling with centre-backs for United’s frequent balls over the top, Zirkzee has the frame and the physicality to win those types of duels and bring team-mates into play. He also won the penalty which Fernandes converted to equalise.
This was Zirkzee’s first start since that night against Newcastle. Other players might consider being substituted after half an hour to jeers from their own supporters as the end of their Old Trafford career. It could yet be the rebirth of Zirkzee’s.
Thursday, January 23: Rangers (home), Europa League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
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(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
