Manchester United's season shift went from tentative to tangible as Ruben Amorim finally watched his team string wins together.
A 4-2 victory over Brighton, powered by a brace from Bryan Mbeumo plus goals from Matheus Cunha and Casemiro, gave United a third straight triumph and, crucially, the momentum the coach said had been missing.
United rocked the crowd early. Amorim’s aggressive blueprint — asking Luke Shaw and Matthijs de Ligt to press high and follow Brighton’s front men when they dropped deep, disrupted the visitors and paid instant dividends.
Cunha opened the scoring with a composed finish, and Casemiro’s long-range effort, aided by a fortuitous deflection, put United in command. The plan wasn’t neat; it was clever, and it worked.
Mbeumo, already on the scoresheet at Anfield, continued his red-hot form with two strikes that salted the game away. His first was a low, clinical finish; his second, a stoppage-time relief that finally kicked the tension into release and sealed the three-game streak.
The summer recruits are already justifying the outlay — Mbeumo and Cunha now look like the cutting edge United were missing last season.
True to United tradition, nothing was straightforward. Brighton clawed back to 3-2 with a Danny Welbeck free-kick and a headed finish from Charalampos Kostoulas after Casemiro was rested.
Nerves frayed, the crowd held its breath, and for a spell it looked like the comeback story would unfold against United. Mbeumo’s late killer blow turned anxiety into euphoria.
Amorim’s critics have been loud, but here his tactical nous was on display. He tailored his approach to the opponent, adapting between high press and deeper defending depending on personnel: “When we have players who can press high, de Ligt and Shaw, we can press a little bit higher,” he said.
The result felt like proof that the summer overhaul and recruitment team were right to back his vision.
When the final whistle blew, United climbed into the top four, a position Amorim had not occupied since taking charge.
This wasn’t just a win; it was a statement: the rough patch may be behind them and, for the first time in months, Manchester United look like a team building forward rather than merely surviving.
