The jitters got out of the way early on Sunday.
Well, not too early. There were about 25 minutes where Manchester United looked halfway to the beach on the south coast at Brighton & Hove Albion. The intensity picked up a bit as the Gulls were in must-win mode and forced some alert defending.
As United finally built some possession at the half hour mark, they picked up a corner kick opportunity for Bruno Fernandes to fire in assist No. 21 on the season. It was probably aimed toward Harry Maguire at the center
of the box, but was met instead by Patrick Dorgu, who fired a laser beam header at Verbruggen. The Belgian keeper managed to get a hand to the effort, but it was hit at such a pace that it powered through and into the net off the underside of the crossbar.
Job done, as far as some were concerned. The assist record for the most creative player in the Premier League was secure, but the three points weren’t wrapped up just yet.
And the Seagulls still had much to play for, until the final nails were driven.
One of the more aesthetically pleasing goals of the season came to fruition just before halftime as Amad and Mason Mount combined beautifully in the box to set up Bryan Mbeumo at the far post, his 11th league goal of the campaign. Then, just after the restart, the man of the moment got one for himself.
Bruno Fernandes got the ball in the right half space on a pass from Dorgu, and hit a low shot first-time across goal to seal the result. For a player so good at crashing the box and finding the target, he hasn’t had the most prolific campaign as a goalscorer, and it was nice to see him mark the special day by getting back on the scoresheet. He has been a standout for the Reds in a difficult period of adjustment and re-tooling, but now things are looking up again.
The match became an opportunity to roll out Tyler Fledter and Shea Lacey for some first-team action as well, and Leny Yoro got a runout as well after a difficult end to the season with form and injuries. For Joshua Zirkzee, perhaps a farewell, much remains to be seen.
For United and now permanent boss Michael Carrick though, it was a good performance on a day when not much was expected of them and a lot was on the line for the opponent. A positive note to end on heading into a massive summer as United look to capitalize on building a foundation and enter a new era of the Premier League with the wind in their sails.
