Manchester United suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a rampant Brighton at the Amex Stadium – a result that confirmed United would not qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Ecuador international Moises Caicedo put the hosts ahead with his first Premier League goal in only his sixth game, with a low 25-yard strike after United’s Alex Telles had failed to clear.
The visitors, in interim boss Ralf Rangnick’s penultimate game in charge before he is replaced by Erik ten Hag, fell apart in the second half, conceding three goals in quick succession.
Marc Cucurella fired into the roof of the net from Leandro Trossard’s pull-back for the second, with Trossard setting up Pascal Gross to calmly steer in a third.
Trossard scored Brighton’s fourth when he bundled the ball over the line from close range, with the goal eventually given after a video assistant review checked for a handball.
The defeat was United’s fifth successive away loss and ensured they cannot finish higher than their current spot of sixth in the Premier League, with only the top four playing in next season’s Champions League.
It will be only the fifth time in 30 years that they will not play in Europe’s major competition – and they could even miss out on the Europa League and drop into the third-tier Europa Conference League.
They are currently six points ahead of seventh-placed West Ham, who have two games in hand.
Brilliant Brighton set for their best season ever
For Brighton, watched by a record crowd at the Amex of 31,637, this was an evening their fans will remember for years to come.
They have had some great moments this season, drawing at Anfield against Liverpool, drawing home and away against Chelsea, taking four points off Arsenal and winning away at Tottenham. But none compares to this dominant victory over United.
Indeed, the Seagulls were not flattered by the margin of victory and could even have scored more, with Welbeck going close in the first half and unlucky not to add a fifth late on with an excellent effort from 25 yards that curled just past the post.
Meanwhile, United’s few chances of note included a Bruno Fernandes effort that was parried by Robert Sanchez.
Edinson Cavani, set to leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the season, thought he had scored a consolation when he steered in Harry Maguire’s cross from close range – but that was rightly ruled out for offside.
More remarkably, this was ninth-placed Brighton’s first home win of 2022 after only picking up four points from their previous eight games at the Amex.
It kept them on course to claim their first ever top-10 finish in English football’s top flight in their 121-year history.
For United, the season cannot end quickly enough. They spent almost £120m on Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, and hopes were high at the start of the season that they could push for the title after coming second last season.
But after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November, the club appointed Rangnick on an interim basis, although he was not given the chance to strengthen the squad in the January transfer window and the club have gone backwards.
Manchester United have been English champions a record 20 times, but the rebuilding task facing Ten Hag, who could win the Dutch Eredivisie on Sunday with current club Ajax, is growing by each match.
On this evidence, he faces the toughest task in football to bring United back to their glory years.
Player of the match
TrossardLeandro Trossard
Brighton & Hove Albion
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Squad number11Player nameTrossardAverage rating
8.68
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Squad number3Player nameCucurellaAverage rating
8.63
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Squad number25Player nameCaicedo
Average rating8.56
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Squad number13Player nameGroß
Average rating8.48
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Squad number10Player nameMac Allister
Average rating8.39
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Squad number8Player nameBissouma
Average rating8.38
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Squad number18Player nameWelbeck
Average rating8.38
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Squad number20Player nameMarch
Average rating8.28
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Squad number5Player nameDunk
Average rating8.18
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Squad number2Player nameLamptey
Average rating8.05
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Squad number34Player nameVeltman
Average rating8.00
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Squad number4Player nameWebster
Average rating7.95
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Squad number1Player nameSánchez
Average rating7.92
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Squad number9Player nameMaupay
Average rating7.62
Manchester United
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Squad number7Player nameCristiano RonaldoAverage rating
3.34
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Squad number1Player namede GeaAverage rating
3.19
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Squad number8Player nameMataAverage rating
2.97
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Squad number21Player nameCavaniAverage rating
2.90
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Squad number17Player nameFredAverage rating
2.46
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Squad number20Player nameDiogo DalotAverage rating
2.36
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Squad number5Player nameMaguireAverage rating
2.36
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Squad number31Player nameMaticAverage rating
2.31
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Squad number39Player nameMcTominayAverage rating
2.29
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Squad number18Player nameBruno FernandesAverage rating
2.26
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Squad number19Player nameVaraneAverage rating
2.25
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Squad number36Player nameElangaAverage rating
2.19
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Squad number2Player nameLindelöfAverage rating
2.16
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Squad number27Player nameAlex TellesAverage rating
2.10
Line-ups
Brighton
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Sánchez
- 34Veltman
- 5Dunk
- 3Cucurella
- 20MarchSubstituted forLampteyat 76′minutes
- 8Bissouma
- 25Caicedo
- 11TrossardSubstituted forMaupayat 83′minutes
- 13Groß
- 10Mac AllisterSubstituted forWebsterat 67′minutes
- 18Welbeck
Substitutes
- 2Lamptey
- 4Webster
- 9Maupay
- 14Lallana
- 17Alzate
- 23Steele
- 24Duffy
- 57Offiah
- 58Ferguson
Man Utd
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1de Gea
- 20DalotBooked at 47mins
- 2Lindelöf
- 19Varane
- 27Telles
- 39McTominay
- 31MaticSubstituted forCavaniat 45′minutes
- 36ElangaSubstituted forFredat 45′minutes
- 8MataSubstituted forMaguireat 70′minutes
- 18Bruno Fernandes
- 7Cristiano RonaldoBooked at 45mins
Substitutes
- 4Jones
- 5Maguire
- 14Lingard
- 17Fred
- 21Cavani
- 26Henderson
- 29Wan-Bissaka
- 74Fernández
- 75Garnacho Ferreyra
- Referee:
- Andy Madley
- Attendance:
- 31,637
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 4, Manchester United 0.
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Second Half ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 4, Manchester United 0.
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Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Adam Webster (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Attempt blocked. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Bruno Fernandes.
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Hand ball by Marc Cucurella (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by David de Gea.
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Attempt saved. Pascal Groß (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Joël Veltman.
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Foul by Scott McTominay (Manchester United).
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Moisés Caicedo (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Dangerous play by Edinson Cavani (Manchester United).
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Yves Bissouma (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Pascal Groß.
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Offside, Manchester United. Bruno Fernandes tries a through ball, but Cristiano Ronaldo is caught offside.
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Fred (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Yves Bissouma (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Harry Maguire (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Neal Maupay (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Neal Maupay replaces Leandro Trossard.
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Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Edinson Cavani.
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