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Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to turn the game around in the second half
Photo: TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
For Manchester United, the new era under Dutch coach Erik ten Hag began with a defeat and protests from dissatisfied fans.
England's football record champions lost 2-1 (0-2) against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.
German Brighton pro Pascal Groß (30th/39th minute) scored both goals for the guests, who celebrated their first win at United's Old Trafford stadium.
The goal for the hosts was an own goal from Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister (68).
Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who is said to be willing to change, and whose future has been speculated about for weeks, only came into play after 53 minutes.
As a reason for why Ronaldo was not in the starting XI, ten Hag surprisingly named fitness deficits.
"He works really hard to get to the right level of fitness," said the Dutchman on the BBC.
"It takes time, that's normal."
Instead of the Portuguese, Christian Eriksen surprisingly started up front.
The Dane, actually committed as a substitute for Bruno Fernandes in attacking midfield, should apparently play a similar role as the Serb Dušan Tadić once in the Ajax team as a playmaker at the top, which ten Hag had led to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019.
Protests against the Glazers before the game
United, however, hardly created any chances in this orientation and only became more compelling in the attacking game after Ronaldo brought in for the more defensive Fred in the second half of the game.
However, their own degrees remained too harmless.
The best opportunity was missed by Marcus Rashford, who was freed by Ronaldo and failed from close range to Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (60th).
Even before the game, the mood around Old Trafford was tense.
The fan shop at the stadium was closed for security reasons when around 1,000 United supporters demonstrated against the American owner family Glazer.
However, the protests remained peaceful.
One of the club's owners, Avie Glazer, sat in the stands and was chanted by fans throughout the game.
cev/dpa
