Man Utd defender Dalot: "We let Brighton play freely."

Erik ten Hag's side were defeated 2-1 by Brighton at Old Trafford.



Manchester United right-back Diogo Dalot admitted that his side were “really bad” in the first 45 minutes of their Premier League opener against Brighton and above Albion on Sunday.

Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils were famously played off the park as Pascal Gross scored a first-half double to hand the Seagulls a comfortable lead at Old Trafford.

United played better in the second half and forced an own goal from Alexis Mac Allister, but failed to secure a comeback, leaving Graham Potter’s side to register a historic victory at the Theatre of Dreams.

Speaking to MUTV following the defeat, an unhappy Dalot said: “I think everyone felt that it was a disappointing result. We started really bad the first 45 minutes. Second half we got a little bit better but still not enough to win a game like this.

“We knew that it was going to be tough. [I’m] disappointed but we need to keep our heads up and start working for the next game.”

The Portuguese defender continued: “I think we could stop a little bit more the counter-attacks,” he added. “We let them play freely a couple of times and they [played] in behind.

“We could stop those counter-attacks with a little bit more aggression, but [as] I said, we did better in the second half. We kept more of the ball, we had some chances, but we need to analyse what we didn’t do right and try to improve for the next game.”

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On the support shown by the Man United, fans, he said: “The fans were always there through the 90 minutes, even when we were 2-0 down,” he said. “We knew if we scored a goal the crowd would [be behind us].

“[The result is] a setback. We need to keep together, and I think this will not be an issue for us for the next games. But we have to for sure to analyse what we didn’t do well and then try to improve for the next game.”

United’s next Premier League outing is an away clash against Brentford on Saturday evening. The Bees came from behind to draw 2-2 at Leicester in their first fixture of this campaign.

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