The relief, in some quarters, over Ruben Amorim’s departure from Manchester United has proven to heighten doubt over the future of the club as Darren Fletcher’s side exited the FA Cup at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Even after an 85th-minute header, scored by Benjamin Sesko, Fabian Hurzeler’s side managed to hang on and hand United unwanted history having been eliminated from both domestic tournaments at the first hurdle since the 1981-82 season.
Brajan Gurda opened the scoring after just 12 minutes of football despite a promising start from United before Welbeck, who played 142 times for the Red Devils, extended the advantage emphatically from just inside the box.
But on their quest for a third FA Cup final in four seasons, which abruptly ended here, Brighton prevailed amid unrest aimed at the ownership of this club.
Story of the Match
As the players emerged from the famous tunnel in the corner of Old Trafford, television replays showed a banner citing the message “Jim can’t fix this,” talking about the British billionaire and Manchester United co-owner, Jim Ratcliffe.
For the opening stages, at least, that message looked implausible given the appointment, albeit forced, of a former player and the positive signs that he has brought to a club in turmoil.
Diogo Dalot was the largest threat in the opening stages, twice firing towards goal with his first forcing Brighton’s second-choice goalkeeper Jason Steele into a low save inside two minutes.
An anti-owner banner was brandished by a section of the United supporters in Old Trafford (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images)
It was United’s next chance that generated the loudest gasps up to that point, inside seven minutes, as Bruno Fernandes struck from 25 yards towards the bottom right corner, which was saved by Steele well.
At the other end, there was very little Senne Lammens could have done despite his talent to keep Fabian Hurzeler’s side out when the deadlock was broken inside 12 minutes.
A ball was drifted out to the left to Ferdi Kadioglu, who progressed the run before he released the ball to Danny Welbeck, driving towards the byline and floating a cross inside the area.
That delivery was met by Georginio Rutter from six yards but a heroic block by Lisandro Martinez seemingly killed the danger until Gurda found the loose ball inside the area, smashing it into the net with his first touch.
Having reached just one final in this competition since 1983 where they lost to none other than United in that tie, Brighton’s credentials for FA Cup silverware are fairly transparent.
Gurda scored after just 12 minutes to give Brighton the lead (Photo by PETER POWELL/Getty Images)
But during a weekend of extremes – from Manchester City’s 10-1 demolition of Exeter to Macclesfield’s historic giant-killing of Crystal Palace – this tournament’s knack for unpredictability was yet to be shown here.
United, as strong as they looked in parts, were held back by a wastefulness that has poisoned their squad since even before Ruben Amorim’s failed 14-month tenure. Shortly after Rutter nearly doubled his side’s advantage on the back of an inept pass by Lammens, Cunha nearly scored succeeded from 22 yards.
Their next eye-catching opportunity didn’t come until the 42nd minute, when Fernandes tried to go low from a free-kick just outside the area. Cunha too had another opportunity inside first-half stoppage time, dropping Joel Veltman before dragging his final product away from the target.
Ultimately, United were forced to face the repercussions for their wastefulness and it was their former player Welbeck who dealt the final blow to the hosts’ fading hopes of silverware this season.
A lack of urgency from Patrick Dorgu motivated Gruda to feed Welbeck on the inside and as he shaped up his shot, with Leny Yoro struggling to catch up with the ball’s pace, Welbeck snapped a sublime finish into the top left corner to silence Old Trafford.
Shea Lacey was shown red with minutes remaining, as the remainder of his group was booed off at full-time.