Brighton 2-1 Manchester United: Joao Pedro strikes late to sink Red Devils

Joao Pedro's header in the 95th minute clinched all three points for Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium, leading to a 2-1 victory and marking their fifth win in the last six encounters against their opponents.

Both teams commenced the season with victories the previous weekend; however, Brighton's commanding 3-0 win over Everton was notably more impressive than United's narrow late victory against Fulham.

The hosts began the match strongly on the South Coast, with Joao Pedro's relatively weak shot from outside the box around the 10-minute mark being the first attempt from either side.

While the Red Devils displayed a solid performance, it was Amad Diallo who missed a significant opportunity at the back post after receiving an excellent cross from Diogo Dalot.

Brighton has had an active summer transfer window, bringing in seven new players, with two more potentially joining in Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Matt O’Reilly. Nevertheless, it was one of their seasoned players who opened the scoring after 31 minutes.

A well-placed ball found Kaoru Mitoma at the back post, and his low cross was converted by former United player Danny Welbeck.

Erik ten Hag’s side believed they had equalized shortly thereafter, but Marcus Rashford was ruled offside when he fortuitously scored on his second attempt from close range.

Following this, United struggled to create further chances for the remainder of the first half and continued to be outperformed at the start of the second half.

In fact, they were fortunate not to concede a second goal when Welbeck's header from close range struck the crossbar.

Ultimately, the visitors demonstrated their quality and managed to equalize with approximately 30 minutes left in the match.

A skillful through ball from Noussair Mazraoui found Diallo, who advanced into the box and scored after a deflection off Jan Paul Van Hecke.

Both teams pressed forward in search of a winning goal, and a pivotal moment nearly occurred following a rapid exchange of play.

Brighton enjoyed a numerical advantage in the attacking third, yet Yankuba Minteh's poor judgment allowed United to launch a counterattack.

Although they found the net again when substitute Joshua Zirkzee redirected Alejandro Garnacho’s shot into an unguarded goal, the effort was disallowed due to Zirkzee being in an offside position at the time—an unfortunate turn of events for Ten Hag and his team, especially considering that Garnacho’s original attempt would have resulted in a goal regardless.

As the match progressed in a similar fashion, it appeared that neither side would manage to find the decisive finish.

That was until Pedro, unmarked, headed in Adingra’s chipped pass, igniting jubilation among the home supporters.

With two victories from two matches, new Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has made an ideal start, while Ten Hag will be left frustrated by his team's failure to maintain composure in the closing moments of the game.