{"id":225308,"date":"2025-10-25T20:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T20:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/225308\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T20:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T20:48:13","slug":"man-utd-4-brighton-2-what-has-ruben-amorim-improved-to-earn-three-successive-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/225308\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd 4 Brighton 2 \u2013 What has Ruben Amorim improved to earn three successive wins?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ruben Amorim recorded three consecutive wins as Manchester United head coach for the first time as they moved up to fourth in the Premier League table with victory over Brighton \u2014 despite a late scare.<\/p>\n

United had not won three league games in a row in the same season since February 2024 but were 2-0 up on Brighton by half-time thanks to Matheus Cunha\u2019s first goal for the club and a Casemiro shot that took a big deflection off the back of Yasin Ayari.<\/p>\n

Bryan Mbeumo added a third just after the hour to seemingly win the game, only for Danny Welbeck to pull one back from a superbly struck free kick on 74 minutes before substitute Charalampos Kostoulas headed in a 92nd minute corner. Brighton had wanted that third goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up, and a red card for Patrick Dorgu in conceding the free kick from which they scored their first, but the officials did not agree.<\/p>\n

Brighton had been looking to record four consecutive league wins at Old Trafford but it was United, in front of watching co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who ultimately added to victories over Sunderland and Liverpool make it 16 points from their opening nine games, with Mbeumo rattling in his second to make it 4-2.<\/p>\n

Here, The Athletic\u2019s Mark Critchley breaks down the key talking points.<\/p>\n

What does Amorim have Man Utd doing better?<\/p>\n

Three points, three goals and three Premier League wins in a row for the first time in a single season since February 2024. To suddenly be only three points off leaders Arsenal, albeit having played a game more, is some turnaround for this United side given what the prevailing mood was less than a month ago, post-Brentford.<\/p>\n

Nobody\u2019s talking about whether Amorim has to change his 3-4-3 formation anymore, but there have clearly been tweaks under the hood.<\/p>\n

Though United did not go long as consistently as they did at Anfield here \u2014 Senne Lammens only punting a mere 34 long balls this time rather than 45 \u2014 they still played the faster, more direct football we are becoming used to seeing this season. A team that struggled in build-up last season has found quicker, easier routes into opposition\u2019s half.<\/p>\n

ManagerStreaks (3+ PL Wins)<\/p>\n

David Moyes<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Louis van Gaal<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Jose Mourinho<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

Ole Gunnar Solskj\u00e6r<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Erik ten Hag<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

There are signs that more time on the training ground is paying off too. Amorim\u2019s centre-backs have typically struggled when stepping up into midfield to join the press \u2014 something Bruno Fernandes pointed to after the defeat in the Manchester derby.<\/p>\n

But Luke Shaw did just that with perfect timing to steal the ball off Georginio Rutter\u2019s toes and start the move that ended with Casemiro scoring, and Matthijs de Ligt\u2019s risky man-to-man marking of Danny Welbeck, which dragged him high up into Brighton\u2019s half at times, was a gamble that paid off.<\/p>\n

And an understanding is beginning to form at the other end of the pitch too, with Benjamin Sesko having a role to play in Cunha\u2019s goal, then setting up Mbeumo\u2019s first. Small, incremental improvements maybe, but improvements that are bringing results.<\/p>\n

How did Cunha score his first goal?<\/p>\n

Matheus Cunha\u2019s goal drought is over, as much as he was ever enduring one in the first place. In this age of \u2018007\u2019 memes<\/a>, more might have been made of the \u00a362million signing\u2019s eight-game wait to open his account. But with Cunha, you always felt that first goal was only a matter of time.<\/p>\n

It finally arrived in typical Cunha fashion: from outside the box but not at an unrealistic distance, with the precision and technique of his finessed strike too great for Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to have any hope of stopping it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Cunha scores his first Man Utd goal (Photo: Martin Rickett\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Cunha\u2019s performances \u2014 particularly his display at Anfield last weekend \u2014 have deserved more by way of attacking output. He earned his moment of catharsis in front of the East Stand. Every outfield United player joined the celebrations.<\/p>\n

Big money attacking signings at United have the responsibility to keep demanding the ball, to keep taking risks, to keep trying things. And as his captain said this week, Cunha has happily accepted that responsibility, never shying away from it. And that\u2019s why you can be confident this was just the first of more to come.<\/p>\n

Did Man Utd miss Casemiro?<\/p>\n

One of the themes of the opening months to this season has been that United simply look like a better side when Casemiro is playing.<\/p>\n

That is worth noting on a day when the 33-year-old sets up one and scores another, even if his second goal of the season owed a lot to the deflection off Brighton\u2019s Ayari.<\/p>\n

But it was especially noticeable following his 70th-minute substitution. Once Casemiro came off for Kobbie Mainoo, United suddenly looked more vulnerable through the centre of the pitch, more susceptible to type of run that Yankuba Minteh made to win the free kick that led to Welbeck\u2019s consolation goal.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Amorim quickly shored things up by sending for Manuel Ugarte, but there is no doubt as to who United\u2019s first-choice holding midfielder is at the moment. Casemiro has not been without blemish this season \u2014 his red card against Chelsea comes to mind \u2014 but moments like that aside, his experience and game management has been vital, and was missed in the closing stages here.<\/p>\n

Should United\u2019s third goal have stood? Should they have had a penalty? Was Dorgu lucky?<\/p>\n

While Manchester United were celebrating their third goal, Brighton\u2019s players led by James Milner were complaining about what they thought was a foul in the build up.<\/p>\n

Their complaint was that Luke Shaw had impeded and then held onto the shirt of Georginio Rutter but VAR Michael Oliver decided it was not sufficient to rule out Mbeumo\u2019s goal that followed, with the contact described as \u201cminimal\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

United had their own questions for the officials in the first half when Amad was tripped inside the penalty area by Maxim De Cuyper but was not awarded a penalty. The referee Anthony Taylor judged that De Cuyper had played the ball when he thrust his leg backwards and brought down Amad, with the VAR agreeing that the Brighton player\u2019s foot had touched the ball.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n De Cuyper was judged to have played the ball (Photo: Shaun Botterill\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler also felt United should have been reduced to 10 men when Dorgu as the last man brought down Yankuba Minteh for the free kick from which Welbeck pulled one goal back. The officials decided that Minteh was not in control of the ball, which had run on to United goalkeeper Senne Lammens at the point he was fouled.<\/p>\n

What did Amorim say?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they are more confident,\u201d Amorim said in his post-match press conference of his team\u2019s improvement. \u201cI think the best game we did this season was against Arsenal. But then when you are a little bit more confident, when you have a different spirit, sometimes you have a little bit of luck in certain moments of the game that help you to win games. Is that what I\u2019m feeling now, that we are a little bit more free playing the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike last week we had a little bit of luck because of that, because we are in a different spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had that feeling of embarrassment of what I was doing or not winning games. It\u2019s more with the fans because I felt always that Jim (Ratcliffe) believes and knows what we are doing. But to face the fans is a little bit different in this moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what I feel is the urgency of not losing this moment because it\u2019s so hard and in football everything can change in one week. So let\u2019s enjoy today and focus on the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

What next for United?<\/p>\n

Saturday, November 1: Nottingham Forest (Away), Premier League, 3pm UK, 11am ET<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruben Amorim recorded three consecutive wins as Manchester United head coach for the first time as they moved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[25672,218,349,221,1671,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-225308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-brighton-hove-albion","tag-football","tag-manchester-united","tag-premier-league","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}