Ten Hag blasts Man Utd duo in Brighton loss as Wan-Bissaka meets match

Brighton stunned Manchester United with a 99th-minute penalty to avenge their FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley last month. Alexis Mac Allister’s last-gasp spot-kick decided the match in brutal fashion for the Red Devils, and with the dust yet to settle on their agonising 1-0 defeat, Express Sport takes you through four of the showdown’s main talking points…

Ten Hag rips into duo

The United boss was animated from the word go at the Amex Stadium, and during the first-half, two players felt his wrath in quick succession. The first was goalkeeper David de Gea, who ‘annoyed‘ Erik ten Hag by missing his long goal-kick and the Dutchman responded by repeatedly wagging his finger and shouting “One!”

Anthony Martial, who had a largely ineffective game, was targeted soon afterwards as the Red Devils boss laid into him over a lack of pressing from the front. Ten Hag supposedly ‘slapped his thighs in anger‘ before giving the Frenchman an almighty earful in what, overall, was a hugely frustrating night for the 53-year-old.

Wan-Bissaka meets his match

The former Crystal Palace right-back’s shortfalls are now well-known, but he has nurtured a pristine reputation as a solid one-on-one defender who is incredibly difficult to get past. Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma certainly put that to the test on Thursday, however.

Having got the beating of Wan-Bissaka multiple times early on, the Japanese winger was shown plenty of respect, often being allowed to pick his pass in the final third as the United star shied away from getting too close.

The only thing missing from Mitoma’s performance was a goal, and while the 25-year-old’s finishing was poor at times, he almost earned a penalty after dribbling past Wan-Bissaka yet again, only for his cries to be waved away by the referee.

Antony’s night to forget

The Brazilian is not yet a nailed-on starter under Ten Hag, and he still has plenty to prove after a mega-money £84million move from Ajax last summer. His performance against the Seagulls will therefore have left many disappointed.

Aside from missing an early one-on-one and taking the sting out of a promising attack that was kick-started by superb skill from Rashford, Antony risked reducing the Red Devils to 10 men in the second half, kicking out at Mac Allister and squaring up to Lewis Dunk, with many surprised to see him stay on the pitch.