Manchester United v Brighton live: Teenage substitute Lacey sees red as hosts crash out of FA Cup
Manchester United 1-2 Brighton and Hove Albion: Late Benjamin Sesko consolation goal not enough as hosts crash out of FA Cup at first time of asking
Manchester United’s dismal season continued with a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton in the third round of the FA Cup.
United started brightly but could not find a way past Seagulls keeper Jason Steele, and Brajan Gruda opened the scoring in the 12th minute against the run of play.
From there United struggled to get back into the game, with Danny Welbeck doubling the hosts’ lead in the second half with his eighth goal against his former side.
Benjamin Sesko produced a late consolation goal and Old Trafford instantly revived as United pressed for an equaliser, but not even the introduction of Harry Maguire could rescue the game - and the season.
Teenage substitute Shea Lacey was a rare bright spark for the hosts on his FA Cup debut, but he received a second yellow for dissent and was sent off late on to compound United’s woes.
For United, this was the first time they have fallen at the first hurdle in both cup competitions since the 1981-82 season; for Brighton, this was sweet revenge for the 1983 final, and their first FA Cup victory over the Red Devils.
Follow all the action with The Independent’s liveblog here:
Manchester United’s nightmare season reaches new lows with premature but predictable FA Cup exit
For those, certain former managers perhaps included, who think Manchester United occupy too much space in the discourse, it is more than a century, World Wars excepted, since they last took up so little room in the fixture list.
For Darren Fletcher, who had spoken of the honour of managing United, it has been accompanied by their latest historic low, another marker of failure. The team with no manager have no cup run and will get no trophy.
Because 11 January became the earliest point in a season since 1971 to ensure United would end it without silverware. United fell at the first hurdle of the FA Cup, just as they had in the League Cup, an unwanted double they had not mustered since 1982. They guaranteed they will play just 40 games, their fewest in a full campaign since 1914-15.
Man Utd’s nightmare season reaches new low with premature but predictable FA Cup exit
Manchester United make progress in new manager search with two former players frontrunners
Manchester United are poised to choose their interim manager for the rest of the season with Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the favourites.
Darren Fletcher, who has been in charge for two games, and Ruud van Nistelrooy are also in contention to oversee the remainder of the campaign, though the Scot’s candidature may have been damaged by their FA Cup exit to Brighton.
United conducted face-to-face interviews with Carrick, their former captain, on Thursday and Solskjaer, the scorer of the winner in the 1999 Champions League final, on Saturday.
Man Utd make progress in new manager search with two former players frontrunners
Man Utd hit new low
With no European football and first-round exits in the FA Cup and League Cup (the latter, infamously, to Grimsby Town), Man Utd are now on course for a 40-game season.
That is their lowest total number of games in a campaign in 111 years.
Giant-killings galore
Six Premier League sides were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking this weekend.
Nottingham Forest lost to Wrexham, Everton to Sunderland, holders Crystal Palace to Macclesfield, Bournemouth to Newcastle, Tottenham to Aston Villa and now Manchester United to Brighton.
'We created enough to win' - Diogo Dalot
Let’s hear from Diogo Dalot on TNT Sports now. He says: “We created enough to win the game to be honest.” Did they?!
“Then the red card gave us a disadvantage because we were on top of Brighton in the last moments. Overall very disappointed because we wanted to go through. All the lads kept trying to find spaces, like I said really disappointed because I think we deserved to win.”
On the managerial churn, he says it’s been “really difficult. It's always a period that you have to find ways to solve problems really quickly. We have to adapt and go again.”
Darren Fletcher 'helped me massively as a boy' - Danny Welbeck
Welbeck now pays a nice tribute to Darren Fletcher, who is his former teammate at United.
“It's incredible,” he says. “Credit to Fletch to see what he's done. He helped me massively as a young boy coming through at Man Utd, he was there for me every single day. I've got a lot of respect for him, it was nice to see him after the game.”
'I've got into a rhythm' - Danny Welbeck
Welbeck is asked what his secret is to playing so well at the age of 35. He says: “I can't really give away the secret. If I say too much, the drugs test people will come for me! I've got good gamily genes, I eat well, prepare well for every single training session.
“When I was younger I played, left or right and No 10. Playing through that and going through injuries, it's hard to get into the rhythm. Touch wood, I haven't had many injuries at Brighton in last few years. I've got into a rhythm.”
Can he make it into the World Cup squad? He laughs and says: “For me, I'm just focusing on here at Brighton. I'm enjoying my time. Football can change at the click of your fingers. I'm just controlling what I can control.”
'Always a massive occasion' - Danny Welbeck
Now Brighton’s second goalscorer, Danny Welbeck, chats to TNT Sports. He says: “It's massive. To come here in the FA Cup, it's always a massive occasion. Delighted to get to the next round, there are a few boys who haven't been playing regularly, so to get the performance is huge. We're buzzing inside the dressing room.”
Asked about his goal, he says: “It was a good first touch, knew I had to get a clean strike on it. When the ball's coming across, you know where the defenders are, the second touch has to be a shot on goal. It was nice to get that clean connection on it.”
FA Cup round four teams
So United follow fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace out the FA Cup exit door.
Here are the round four teams so far:
Premier League (13): Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Burnley, Chelsea, Fulham, Leeds, Man City, Newcastle, Sunderland, West Ham, Wolves
Championship (11): Birmingham, Bristol City, Ipswich, Hull, Leicester, Norwich, Oxford, Southampton, Stoke, West Brom, Wrexham
League One (4): Burton Albion, Mansfield Town, Port Vale, Wigan
League Two (1): Grimsby
National League North (1): Macclesfield
Two of Liverpool v Barnsley and Salford City v Swindon Town will join them.
'The belief is always there' - Brajan Gruda
Brajan Gruda tells TNT Sports: “I’m very happy – it’s the first time I have won at Old Trafford. We had a good day, we really enjoyed it and I can see the fans enjoyed it as well!
“Steeley dominated the game and we’re very happy to have him in goal.
“The belief is always there. Everyone believes in each other and we can achieve anything.”
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