Manchester United have beaten Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 in Tuesday night’s Premier League match.
The Red Devils hosted Graham Potter’s Seagulls at Old Trafford for a tie that had the potential to be a banana skin for the home side.
Coming into the game, United were sitting in fifth place in the league table, one point below West Ham United, but after securing a 2-0 victory against Tuesday’s opponents, Ralf Rangnick’s men have now climbed into a Champions League qualification spot.
Two second-half goals from Portuguese duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes sealed the tie and ensured all three points would remain in Manchester.
Read more: 5 talking points as Manchester United get back to winning ways against Brighton
Despite United’s firepower though – goalkeeper David De Gea cannot go without praise for once again coming to his side’s rescue after executing an acrobatic save to deny the Seagulls.
Speaking after the game, the Spanish goalkeeper assessed his teammate’s performance and revealed that Rangnick’s message at half-time was to press and take full advantage of playing on home soil.
“It is great always when you have the three points, especially after we draw the last few games,” De Gea said (as quoted by BBC Sport). “We are all very happy.
“We knew that Brighton is one of the teams that play very well with the ball, press very good and for me, it is a very good team.
“We started the second half better, we scored the goal, they went a man down but a big three points and the performance was there.
“It’s great to be honest, a very difficult one. In that moment it was a big save because we kept a clean sheet. This is what we want in this moment, keep compact defensively. It was a great save to be honest.
“The message (at half-time) was that we are playing at home and we pressed high in the second half. We controlled the game after the red card and there was a five-minute spell when they came back.
“We should be fighting for more things than the top four, but that is the reality. There are many teams fighting for the same position and with the quality we have we should win a lot of points.”
