BY Jonathan Ledger
Brighton and Hove Albion, with the presence of Super Eagles’ centre back, Leon Balogun, defeated a poor Manchester United side 3-2 at the Amex stadium.
United handed starts to Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young after a long summer in Russia, while Anthony Martial got into the first 11 due to Alexis Sanchez’s injury.
Lukaku should have put United ahead 10 minutes into the game when Pogba fed the big Belgian from a loose ball but he could only fire wide from inside the box with only the keeper to beat.
Balogun replaced captain, Ryan Dunk, on 20 minutes and his team went ahead five minutes later through 34-year-old Glen Murray.
The tireless striker stepped ahead of Victor Lindelof to deftly flick beyond David De Gea.
The Seagulls surprisingly doubled their lead two minutes later through defender, Shane Duffy, who stoked in after United failed to clear a corner kick clumsily conceded by Eric Bailly.
The Red Devils halved the deficit on 34 minutes through Lukaku’s header from three yards out.
The former Chelsea youngster was left unmarked to pounce on a brave Luke Shaw volley which bounced on the turf onto his head.
Bailly’s evening went from bad to worse when he conceded a penalty from a clumsy tackle and Pascal Gross converted from the spot to give Brighton a deserved 3-1 lead at the break.
Jose Mourinho rang the changes at the break; Lingard, Rashford and Fellaini coming on to try and make a difference but the closest they got to a goal was Pogba’s long ranger which was diverted for a corner by Matt Ryan.
They finally did so from the spot, Pogba converting a penalty kick won by Fellaini in the last minute of added time.
Brighton saw out the last few minutes to claim a 3-2 win over the former champions.
In the other side of Manchester, Pep Guardiola’s City side thrashed Huddersfield Town 6-1 with a hat-trick from Sergio Aguero – his ninth in the EPL.
Gabriel Jesus, David Silva and a Terence Kongolo own goal completed the rout against the Terriers who had Jon Stankovic to thank for their consolatory goal.
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