Man Utd lost to Brighton in the 99th minute

Man Utd's five-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League ended when they lost 0-1 to hosts Brighton in the ninth minute of injury time in the second half.

Luke Shaw's controversial handball in the final minute of the second half resulted in a penalty for Man Utd, and midfielder Alexis Mac Allister made no mistake in scoring the only goal of the game. Man Utd's five-match unbeaten streak with four wins was halted, leaving them uncertain of their place in the Premier League's top four.

Mac Allister scored the only goal of the match in the 99th minute, helping Brighton beat Man Utd 1-0 at the Amex Stadium in the make-up match of round 28 of the Premier League on the evening of May 4, 2023.

This is the third consecutive match in the Premier League that Brighton has defeated Man Utd, a statistic that has appeared for the first time in history. Roberto De Zerbi's army successfully avenged their defeat in the FA Cup semi-final on April 23, 2023, to keep their hopes of participating in the Champions League next season alive.

The race for the top four is now down to four teams for two spots, namely Newcastle, Man Utd, Liverpool and Brighton. Of these, only Liverpool have played all 34 matches, the first two teams have one match left, and Brighton have two matches left. If all teams win their upcoming make-up matches, Brighton will overtake Liverpool but still be five points behind Man Utd in fourth place.

United have no top-nine opponents in their remaining five games, as they play West Ham, Wolverhampton, Bournemouth, Chelsea and Fulham. They need 11 points from these games to secure a top-four finish.

Winning three of their remaining five games is not too difficult a task for Man Utd, but their performance in Brighton did not inspire optimism. The Guardian newspaper said the home side "very much deserved" the three points as they created more dangerous chances.

The first half was evenly contested, although midfielder Kaoru Mitoma missed a good chance in the fourth minute. Victor Lindelof made a careless pass in front of the penalty area and the Japanese midfielder got hold of it, brought the ball down to the penalty area but shot straight at goalkeeper David de Gea. If he had passed it to teammate Facundo Buonanotte, Mitoma would have created a clear scoring opportunity for the home team.

Man Utd also created a few chances but they were not really clear, like Marcus Rashford's shot at the near post in the 28th minute, which was pushed away by goalkeeper Jason Steele. Both teams had a total of 38 shots in the match, but the last chance turned into a goal.

Man Utd could have taken a point in the "six-point game", if Shaw had not acted in a deplorable manner in the fifth minute of injury time of the second half. From a cross from Brighton on the right, Shaw jumped up and raised his hand to block the ball like a volleyball player. Although the foul was quite obvious, referee Ander Marriners still needed four minutes to award a penalty. World champion Mac Allisters confidently kicked the 11m penalty into the top left corner, when De Gea dived in the opposite direction. The Amex stadium exploded after this goal.

Coach Erik ten Hag showed no emotion after the defeat, but he was clearly not satisfied. Man Utd failed to dominate the game, with reserve midfielder Christian Eriksen not being used. The "Red Devils" continued their poor away results, winning only two of their last eight Premier League matches.

According to VNE

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