REUTERS/Scott Heppell
Michael Carrick made eight changes to the Manchester United side who were beaten 1-0 by arch-rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday, for the EFL Cup third round tie at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Man United would have been keen to reach the fourth round of the competition as they look to win some silverware this season, and it appeared as though the decision to make multiple changes was going to work out for Carrick after the first 10 minutes.
Goalkeeper Karl Darlow was handed his debut between the sticks having joined the club on a free transfer during the summer, while 19-year-old Shea Lacey started in attack in the same game that 15-year-old JJ Gabriel was also expected to be involved in, before telling United club chiefs that he wanted to leave the club in recent days.
Lacey made an almost instant impact on his first senior start as his well-taken finish gave the hosts the lead in the eighth minute, and Mason Mount doubled their advantage two minutes later.
That was the best we saw from United though, and goals from Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim de Cuyper gave the visitors a famous victory, which also meant that the Red Devils lost their record of avoiding defeat when they led by two goals at half-time at Old Trafford - a record that dated back to 1976.
While United's attacking players came out of the defeat with some credit, it was a different story for the backline.
How much did Man United's starting defence cost?
Noussair Mazraoui - £17m
Leny Yoro - £59m
Ayden Heaven - £1.5m
Diogo Dalot - £19m
Diogo Dalot was the only member of the back five who kept his spot after Sunday, with Darlow, Noussair Mazraoui, Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro playing alongside him.
United look to have a real issue in terms of quality and depth when it comes to the full-back positions, and it was displayed once again against the Seagulls with Dalot and Mazraoui both struggling, following the absences of Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu from the matchday squad.
The Portugal international was given a 4/10 rating by the Manchester Evening News following another shaky display, as he came up against the lightning-quick Malick Yalcouye.
Dalot wasn't as bad on the night as Ayden Heaven was though.
Heaven Looked Out of His Depth vs Brighton
Ayden Heaven
Carrick decided to start Heaven and Yoro at the heart of the defence against Brighton, and while the former is 19 years of age, it wasn't a baptism of fire given he had already made 25 first-team appearances for the club previously.
The teenager's only other minutes this season came in the 2-0 opening day defeat to Hull City, and the centre-back has struggled in both matches.
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Ayden Heaven Stats vs Brighton
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Pass accuracy
Accurate long balls
Defensive contributions
Duels won
He was especially poor against the Seagulls though, and was given a 3/10 rating by the MEN for his display over the course of the 90 minutes.
Heaven was criticised back in 2025 by former boss Ruben Amorim for how he acted on the pitch, and that nonchalance crept into his game again on Wednesday.
Amorin said:
Ayden is so relaxed, he seems so relaxed that sometimes he is too relaxed! But I think we have a player there. So now we have to control, to tell him that it was just a game.
Brighton striker Kostoulas clearly fancied his chances of beating Heaven in a physical battle, and he succeeded, while the former Arsenal youngster was also poor in possession, with Yoro bailing him out on occasion.
Heaven and Darlow were also at fault for the goal from the Greek attacker that brought Fabian Hurzeler's men back into the match, with the 19-year-old playing him onside, before the stopper failed to come out.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp was left completely unimpressed with what he saw from Yoro and Heaven, saying neither player will play for United again regularly unless they change their game.
The performance showed why Carrick has largely favoured playing Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez in the opening weeks of the campaign.
With Matthijs de Ligt still to come back from injury, Heaven will be fortunate to get many more minutes this season based on this showing, unless there is another injury crisis.
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