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The curse for any team who beat Manchester United is that the spotlight tends to fall on the vanquished rather than the victors.
It would be criminal if the inquest into United’s latest setback did not give due credit to Brighton and their inspirational boss Roberto De Zerbi for an outstanding display. This, remember, is a club that lost its two best players in the summer when Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo were sold to Liverpool and Chelsea for a combined £150million.
The Seagulls have reinvested a fraction of the profits and Joao Pedro — scorer of the third goal at Old Trafford — became the club’s record signing at less than £30m. Already Brighton look capable of bettering last season’s sixth-place finish.
Manchester-born Danny Welbeck led the attack at the age of 32, nine years after his last appearance for United, and scored the opener.
Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele hailed the club’s ‘togetherness’ after 3-1 win in Manchester
The Seagulls produced an outstanding display in a dominant victory at Old Trafford
Pascal Gross bagged the second with his seventh goal in 11 games against United as De Zerbi’s side sliced through their opponents. The margin of victory could have been wider. Keeper Jason Steele emerged from the away dressing room to say: ‘We’re in there having beaten Man United 3-1 at Old Trafford, a little bit disappointed we’ve conceded a goal. There is so much more to come from us.
‘We lost our two best players in the summer. Does that open a pathway for somebody else? Absolutely. And whoever comes into the group is coming into a culture that’s been formed for a while. It’s a culture that’s the best I’ve experienced in my life.
‘The togetherness is crazy, win, lose or draw. It doesn’t matter if anybody makes a mistake. It doesn’t matter if we give away the ball or a goal. We’re in it together for a good fella (De Zerbi).
‘His level of intensity and the details we train every day is like nothing you have ever seen. I don’t want to big him up too much because we need him here!’
Another sign of Brighton’s progress will be their first game in Europe. They host AEK Athens in the Europa League on Thursday.
‘I’m so looking forward to it,’ added Steele. ‘I don’t know what the limit is. I don’t care!’
Steele called Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi a ‘good fella’ who set them up brightly
