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.”
KC, JC through to Manning Cup semis as champs Mona booted
A new ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champion will be crowned after Kingston College (KC) registered a decisive 2-0 victory over reigning titleholders Mona High in their Group A quarterfinal showdown at Stadium East on Friday.
Kvist Paul (8th) and Demario Dailey (70th) did the damage for Kingston College in a win that not only ended Mona's campaign but also propelled the North Street-based team into the semifinals alongside Jamaica College (JC), who trounced Tivoli High 4-0 in a simultaneous fixture at the Ashenheim Stadium.
By virtue of the results, Jamaica College topped the group on seven points, one point ahead of Kingston College (six points), while Tivoli High (three points) and Mona High (one point) will now turn their focus to the Walker Cup knockout competition for redemption.
Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, lauded his team's composure and execution.
"It was a fantastic performance. We knew Mona would come out strong, but the boys stuck to the game plan and delivered when it mattered. Now, we look ahead to the semifinals, but as always, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. The aim is to keep the boys grounded and focused, and we will see what happens when that time comes,” Reynolds said.
With a lot at stake for Mona in particular heading into the contest, it was expected to be a close affair, but the manner in which Kingston College started ensured otherwise.
In fact, Mona had very little say in the contest as Kingston College’s show of intent resulted in an early strike inside 10 minutes. Damaine Smith delivered a perfectly placed corner kick, which Paul rose to meet and headed past Mona's goalkeeper, Riquelme Edwards.
Mona High, desperate to respond, almost found themselves further behind in the 15th minute when Dailey fired wide from a promising position.
As Mona struggled to contain Kingston College’s tactical discipline and attacking enterprise, Deshawn Byfield almost added his name to the scoresheet but had his effort dramatically cleared off the line by Dante Peralto.
Despite KC’s dominance, Mona’s goalkeeper Edwards produced a string of superb saves to keep his team in contention.
Just before halftime, he acrobatically parried a powerful shot from Kajay Fletcher, diving full stretch to his right, and Byfield failed to capitalize on the rebound.
Seconds later, Edwards was called upon again to deny a stinging shot from Smith.
Matrim Martin then unleashed a venomous right-footer, but Edwards once more stood tall, ensuring the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.
The purples continued to assert their authority on the resumption as Dailey threatened in the 68th with a firm shot from close range that went straight at Edwards.
However, the Kingston College striker, sporting the number nine jersey, made amends two minutes later. Sent on his way by a brisk through pass, Dailey powered a low drive past a flat-footed Edwards to double Kingston College’s lead and effectively end Mona’s hopes of a comeback.
Clarke hails solid Scotland as Croatia win boosts Nations League survival hopes
Steve Clarke credited Scotland's defensive resilience after they boosted their hopes of remaining in the top tier of the Nations League by beating Croatia 1-0 at Hampden Park.
John McGinn came off the bench to score the all-important goal as Scotland took advantage of Petar Sucic's sending-off to claim their first win of the 2024-25 Nations League campaign.
The result – coupled with Poland's crushing 5-1 defeat in Portugal – means Scotland will stave off automatic relegation to League B if they win in Warsaw on Monday.
While Clarke felt Scotland could have done more with the ball, he was impressed both with their off-the-ball work and with the impact of super sub McGinn.
"My first thoughts when I came off the pitch were that we could play better," Clarke said.
"We could be more clinical when we get to the final third of the pitch. The sending off changed the game, but we were due a little break.
"This is a group of players that want to be successful, want to do well for their country.
"That's another clean sheet, two in a row. If you don't concede goals, you always have a chance to win the game.
"It was nice to get John on the pitch and I thought his finish was really good because it wasn't easy. It was nice to be able to look at the bench behind and know we had people who could come on and affect the game. It's nice when we get everybody fit and available."
The victory was Scotland's first in a competitive match since September 2023, when they beat Cyprus 3-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
They had gone 10 games without a competitive victory since then, drawing four and losing six, including a return of just one point from three outings at Euro 2024.
Denmark 1-2 Spain: Oyarzabal and Perez on target as Roja secure top spot
Spain secured top spot in Group A4 of the Nations League with one match to spare after defeating Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Ayoze Perez were on the scoresheet as the unbeaten Roja made it four wins and a draw to pull six points clear of the second-placed Danes.
Luis de la Fuente's side capitalised on a poor pass from Denmark centre-back Jannik Vestergaard to open the scoring as Oyarzabal latched on to a ball from Perez and finished past Kasper Schmeichel in the 15th minute.
Villarreal forward Perez then doubled the visitors' lead in the 58th minute after Dani Olmo turned provider with a defence-splitting pass.
The hosts reduced the deficit with six minutes of regulation time left, as Fabian Ruiz's back pass to goalkeeper David Raya was intercepted by Gustav Isaksen, who had been denied by the woodwork moments earlier, and he slotted into an open goal to set up a tense ending.
But the Spaniards held on for the win and will now face Switzerland in their final group game on Monday, before taking part in the quarter-finals, scheduled for March.
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