Manchester United made it three wins in a row in the Premier League with this 4-2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford, but were made to work for their win after the away side threatened an unlikely comeback.
Manchester United secured a third successive Premier League victory thanks to this win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening, but they nearly threw it away with some late carelessness.
United ended their run of three successive home defeats against Brighton with this 4-2 victory at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Brazilian pair Matheus Cunha and Casemiro before Bryan Mbeumo added a third midway through the second half.
They were made to sweat late on, though. Former United star Danny Welbeck scored at Old Trafford as an opposition player for the fifth time to get Brighton’s first of the night, before Charalampos Kostoulas’ header in added time reduced the deficit to just one goal.
Any hope Brighton had of a dramatic comeback ended, however, when Mbeumo added his second and United’s fourth with almost the last kick of the game.
Ruben Amorim’s side opened the scoring in the 24th minute, with Cunha finally netting his first goal for the club following his summer signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After Casemiro found him on the edge of the box, he curled a low shot into the far corner of the net. It took him nine competitive appearances and 25 shots to record that strike, but it came as little surprise that his first goal came from outside the box – he’s now scored more than any other Premier League player in all competition from long range (7) since the start of 2024-25.
It was Casemiro who doubled the Red Devils’ lead 10 minutes later, after his speculative shot took a huge deflection to make it 2-0. Picking up the ball in the middle of the Brighton half, Casemiro was allowed to travel with the ball before his long-range strike stuck the back of Yasin Ayari and left Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen no chance.
It was another of United’s summer signings who looked as if he’d put the result beyond doubt just after the hour mark, with Mbeumo scoring against Brighton yet again. His shot from just inside the box went between Lewis Dunk’s legs and flew past Verbruggen, taking his Premier League goal involvement tally to seven (four goals, three assists) against the Seagulls – only against Southampton (8) has he been involved in more.
Brighton were aggrieved that the goal was allowed to stand following a possible foul in the build-up by Luke Shaw on Georginio Rutter, but referee Anthony Taylor deemed it not enough to go and visit the pitchside monitor.
There was late drama at both ends of the pitch, with Brighton threatening an unlikely comeback via Welbeck’s fantastic free kick from 30 yards out and Kostoulas’ header before Mbeumo put the seal on the win to send the United fans home with a smile.
This victory means that United have won three games in a row after previous wins over Sunderland and Liverpool. It’s the first time that they’ve won three Premier League matches in succession within the same season since February 2024. Earlier this week we discussed United’s issue with following up excellent results with disappointment since Amorim arrived in England, but this performance suggests that maybe the tide has turned under the Portuguese at Old Trafford.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Manchester United vs Brighton & Hove Albion stats from their Premier League meeting at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Manchester United 4-2 Brighton: Post-Match Facts
Manchester United have won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since May/August 2024 (their final two games of 2023-24 and their first game of 2024-25), doing so in a single season for the first time since February 2024 (4 in a row).
Manchester United (9 wins) vs Brighton (8 wins) is the most played fixture in Premier League history never to see a draw.
Matheus Cunha’s opener was his first ever goal for Manchester United on what was his ninth appearance for the club in all competitions, netting with his 25th attempt on goal. Indeed, prior to today, the Brazilian had had the most attempts on goal without scoring in 2025-26 among Premier League players in all competitions.
Brighton forward Danny Welbeck has scored seven goals against Manchester United in all competitions, against no opponent has he scored more in his club career. Six of those have come in the Premier League, the most a former player has netted against the Red Devils in the competition.
Bryan Mbeumo has eight Premier League goal involvements against Brighton (8 – 5 goals, 3 assists), against no opponent does he have more in the competition.
Premier League Stats Opta
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