Man Utd slump to nightmare defeat as impressive Seagulls heap more misery on struggling hosts at Old Trafford

Manchester United were beaten 3-1 by Brighton at Old Trafford as the home crowd turned on manager Erik ten Hag.

Ten Hag has enjoyed the overwhelming backing of United fans since his arrival last summer and the majority have supported the Dutchman in his current dispute with winger Jadon Sancho.

But they let Ten Hag know they did not agree with his decision to replace new signing Rasmus Hojlund with Anthony Martial 19 minutes into the second period in no uncertain manner, as a cacophony of boos rang round the stadium before the Dane was applauded off.

The change didn’t make much difference for United, who were behind thanks to a first-half goal from one-time home favourite Danny Welbeck, which was followed up after the interval by efforts from Pascal Gross and substitute Joao Pedro, who were both given far too much space around the United penalty box.

Hannibal Mejbri’s first United goal gave the hosts some hope, but in a frenetic finish it was the visitors who came closest to finding the net again as Andre Onana made four excellent saves, the best of which came in injury-time to deny on-loan Barcelona man Ansu Fati a debut goal.

It was United’s first home defeat in 13 months, when Brighton again triumphed here. The Seagulls are now on a run of four successive Premier League wins over their hosts, and this victory brought more boos at the final whistle, though not on anywhere near the same scale as when Hojlund was withdrawn.

Ten Hag’s side have now conceded 10 goals in their last four games, and have also conceded more than one in four successive league matches for the first time since 1979.