Matheus Cunha’s unwanted run ends as £200m Man Utd call ends Brighton hoodoo – 5 talking points

MANCHESTER UNITED 4-2 BRIGHTON: Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo turned on the style to help propel Ruben Amorim’s team to a third straight Premier League victory

Manchester United’s new-look attack clicked into gear to blitz their Brighton hoodoo as Ruben Amorim’s men survived a late scare to triumph 4-2 over the Seagulls.

Fresh off a memorable win over Liverpool last week it was the hosts who broke the deadlock in style mid-way through the first half courtesy of Matheus Cunha, who notched his first United goal with a perfectly measured finish from the edge of the box after being teed up by Casemiro.

The Red Devils didn’t have to wait too long for a second as Casemiro got in on the act, albeit his strike ended up past Bart Verbruggen via a significant deflection off the unfortunate Yasin Ayari.

United continued to threaten after the break and the excellent Bryan Mbeumo seemed to have killed the game off as a contest after being slipped in by Benjamin Sesko.

Goals from Danny Welbeck and Charalampos Kostoulas set up a nervy finale, but Mbeumo blasted home his second of the game right at the death to fire United to a third consecutive win. Here are Mirror Football’s talking points from the big game…

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1. Another hoodoo falls

Brighton have become a bit of a bogey team for Manchester United in recent years. But Ruben Amorim’s men banished that hoodoo in some style at Old Trafford before Brighton’s late flurry.

The visitors made a bright start and got their just rewards when Cunha arrowed his maiden Red Devils goal beyond Verbruggen. And though Brighton rallied late, that shouldn’t take the gloss off of another big result for United and Amorim, who finally won back-to-back Premier League games for the first time last weekend.

2. £200m call pays dividends

Much has been made of Manchester United’s transfer activity in recent years amid claims they’ve overpaid on some deals, so the decision to drop £200million-plus on a new attack this summer was always likely to be scrutinised pending results.

Thankfully for the Red Devils, their decision to spend big-money on Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo looks better by the week. Mbeumo has been electric and showed flashes of brilliance again here before his two goals. Both he and Benjamin Sesko were already off the mark and Cunha joined them with a fine finish to set United on their way.

As Gary Neville said on commentary, it’s too early to pass judgement on Sesko given he’s adapting to a new league, although there are encouraging signs and the three of them did look good together after the Slovenia star was benched against Liverpool.

Mbeumo and Cunha, however, arrived at Old Trafford with Premier League pedigree – and right now they are living up to their top billing.

3. Baleba at Old Trafford

After months of speculation linking him with a move to Old Trafford, Carlos Baleba did step out at the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday evening, albeit in a Brighton shirt.

Unfortunately for the Seagulls midfielder, he was on the losing side and once again looked a shell of the player who dazzled last season, with the much maligned Casemiro helped United win the midfield battle.

It remains to be seen if United will rekindle their interest in Baleba, who was taken off just before the hour mark.

4. Welbeck strikes back

Manchester United have looked so much better with Senne Lammens in goal but we was unable to prevent Danny Welbeck from bagging a superb consolation for Brighton.

The United academy graduate is now 34 but continues to shine at the top level – so much so that he was even considered as an unlikely transfer target for his former club back in the summer.

Unfortunately for he and Brighton, his super strike counted for nothing in the end.

5. Ruben’s turnaround

Just a few weeks ago it was started to feel like Amorim was in the endgame in the wake of Manchester United’s latest poor run of form. And yet when the final whistle went on Saturday night, United found themselves fourth in the Premier League table.

The nerves were palpable around Old Trafford when seven minutes of second half stoppage were added, which indicates here’s still a long way to go before we can say for certain that United have turned a corner. But recent performances, which have matched the upturn in results, show things are moving in the right direction.

Amorim deserves tremendous credit for shifting the momentum at United with the huge levels of scrutiny on him. There may still be some question marks hanging over the United boss, but with more results like this, they will soon become a thing of the past.

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