Scorers – Greenwood(16’), Bruno Fernandes (28’, 49’)

Assist – Aaron Wan Bissaka, Pogba (28’), Greenwood (49’)

1. United are clicking.

United are finally looking like a team that have a style. Goals coming from overlapping fullbacks involvements are reminders of older days where it was a blueprint of their team. Aaron Wan Bissaka’s well timed pass into Greenwood’s path allowed for the young striker to make his way into the box. Greenwood then created space for himself with a series of stepovers, before firing home a low hard drive near post that bamboozled Mat Ryan, Brighton’s keeper.

Greenwood’s fleetfooted-ness and his natural instinct as a striker makes him one that is hard to mark because of his unpredictability to not only use his left or right foot, but also his ability to go for the near or far post with unerring accuracy.

United’s second goal came when a constant overlapping Luke Shaw found himself in the six yard box and smashed it across goal to nobody. It was picked up by Pogba who from the corner of his eye saw the talisman Bruno Fernandes position himself just outside of the box and tee-ed it up for his creative partner to caress the ball into the right side of the post albeit a slight deflection that wrong footed Mat Ryan.

United’s third goal came as Brighton looked to apply some pressure. A long ball into the box was headed away by Maguire, who outjumped two Brighton players. The cleared ball found its way to Matic who released Greenwood on the left flank with a brilliant volley pass. The young forward duly picked it up and with 3 other attackers with him, crossed it to the far post for Bruno Fernandes to volley it home to effectively kill off the game.

2. Brighton in control of their fates

At the start of this game, Brighton are 5 points above Watford with 33 points to their name. They only need 7 points from their last 6 games. With a visit to Norwich before daunting fixtures against champions Liverpool and monsters Manchester City, their Premier League status may be secured in the final 3 games against – Southampton, Newcastle and Burnley.

In mixed form, they might pull surprises against Liverpool and City who both have nothing much to play for with the championship already decided and may decide to field youngsters and fringe players. But they would need to have their defence to be more awake than they were against United. Allowing runners from deep in the form of Luke Shaw caused so much problems to the 5 man defence that they were playing. Failures to pick up on players in deeper positions also cost them as the Pogba-Bruno combination led to a goal that was already forewarned in the 12th minute when Bruno’s shot struck the post.

Moving forward only Connolly provided any threat and even so he was easily snuffed out by Manchester United. The second half proved better for Brighton as they found opportunities through Tossard and Maupay. How different would it have been had they tried to engage United from the start. Tossard looked a real menace in the second half having 3 shots that challenged De Gea into action. Whilst this game may not decide their future, they would want to secure safety as soon as possible and the next game against bottom dwellers Norwich would present the best opportunity to get closer to the 40 point mark.

3. Lack of depth still a concern for United.

What Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer has now is his first team more or less settled. What he must do is to have more quality in depth. With the game secured at 3-0, OGS decided to withdraw his key players on the 64th min – Bruno, Pogba and Shaw coming off. Both Bruno and Shaw played in the narrow FA cup victory and required protection with more crucial games to come in their bid to the improbable Champions League spot.

The replacement of Mctominay and Andreas Peirera was particularly striking as United’s ability to create chances diminished greatly after their appearance. Whilst they are able squad players, United need someone to be able to shoulder the burden that Bruno Fernandes is now carrying admirably. Make no mistake that their 15 match unbeaten run at the moment coincided with the acquisition of Bruno Fernandes in the January transfer window. United will always be linked with players but what they look to be missing now is quality in depth in centre mid, centre back, right wing and a striker in a target man mould.

If during the summer they can get half of these 4 positions settled, they would put themselves in a better chance for a return to the Champions League in 2 season’s time. Their targeted names of Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish, Leon bailey, Koulibaly, Ansu Fati, Donny Van De Beek and Raul Jimenez to name a few seems to highlight that they have identified the right positions to improve but it remains to be seen if they can convince these players that United is the right step in their careers.

Written by: Bazli