The Erik ten Hag era at Manchester United has promised a lot since the former Ajax manager arrived at the end of the 2021-22 season, but the 2022-23 season has begun with the same kind of performance and the same kind of result.
Cristiano Ronaldo began the game on the bench and Pascal Gross scored twice in the first half to give Brighton a lead they'd hang onto even after a second-half own goal by Alexis Mac Allister. Brighton's 2-1 win marks their first victory ever at Old Trafford.
And just like that, the optimism generated by a positive summer has disappeared. Nobody expected Ten Hag to magically fix things overnight, but there was hope that opening games against Brighton and Brentford offered the chance to at least get off to a good start. Apparently not.
The visitors went in at half-time 2-0 up thanks to two goals from Gross, but it could have been more. United were better after half-time and pulled one back after an Alexis Mac Allister own goal, following some questionable goalkeeping by Robert Sanchez, but Brighton were still well worthy of the three points.