Erik ten Hag says Manchester United must respond with character and togetherness after a galling loss to Brighton on an afternoon when he regarded the booing of Rasmus Hojlund’s withdrawal as a positive.
After a promising first season under the Dutchman, a number of off-field issues at Old Trafford have been compounded by poor performances and results on the pitch.
Already beaten away to Tottenham and Arsenal, Saturday’s meek 3-1 home loss to Brighton meant the Red Devils have lost three of their first five matches for the first time in the Premier League era.
“Definitely that is something that bothers me,” manager Ten Hag said of the results. “But also I have to see the way we play.
“But finally it’s about character then. Now we have to see how strong we are, how the team sticks together and which players are standing up and showing the character and leading the team.
“Because in all the games, all the games but especially the games today, against Arsenal and Forest, we have seen we can play very good and we can create a lot of chances.
“But, yes, there are also some improvements to make. That is definitely the case and now we have to step up.”
Danny Welbeck put Brighton ahead against his former club before Marcus Rashford’s effort was deflected onto the woodwork and Hojlund’s first goal for his new club was ruled out by the VAR.
Pascal Gross and substitute Joao Pedro put the visitors further ahead in the second half at a stunned Old Trafford, where substitute Hannibal Mejbri’s exceptional first United goal did little to lift the mood.
There were boos at the final whistle and even louder jeers earlier in the second half when Ten Hag replaced lively full debutant Hojlund with Anthony Martial.
“I think it was positive,” the manager said of the reaction to the substitution. “You see that the fans from the first moment in Old Trafford, the reception for him was great.
“I think he performed very well, so I think it’s good that they gave this signal, this message. It will give him belief, Rasmus.
“But everyone knows he came in with a small issue. We built him over the last three, four weeks.
“He’s not ready for a whole game and we have many games to play in short notice, so we have to build him also in fitness.”
It has been a poor start to the season in all departments, but Ten Hag dismissed the notion that United are in crisis ahead of Wednesday’s tough-looking Champions League group opener at Bayern Munich.
“No, but we have to be very disappointed,” he said. “And we have to be very annoyed with ourselves because at United the demand is you win games.”
This loss ended United’s 31-match unbeaten home run in all competitions and saw them lose a Premier League match at Old Trafford for the first time since Ten Hag’s opening game.
Brighton were the victors that day and celebrated a second-ever Old Trafford win on Saturday, when they made it four top-flight wins in a row against the Red Devils.
Roberto De Zerbi’s brilliant side shone despite making six changes in the north west against a side constructed at a far greater cost.
“The football is nice because the small team can win in every moment against a great team,” the Brighton boss said.
“But I think Brighton is becoming not a big, big team but it’s not a surprise.
“The quality of the players of Brighton is very high and the organisation of the club. The possibility to manage two players per position is difficult.
“I don’t know the problems of Man United. I can explain my team.
“We are used to working in our style, we are playing with courage because we defended in Old Trafford man-to-man all the time.
“We are building our season in this way.”
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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