Danny Welbeck scored again against his former side as Brighton dumped Manchester United out of the FA Cup after a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
The damaging defeat, potentially the last of Darren Fletcher’s caretaker regime, realistically ends any hopes of silverware for United this season, with the Red Devils not in Europe and already out of the Carabao Cup.
Brighton had never beaten United before in this competition, but took the lead after 12 minutes when Brajan Gruda tucked home a rebound after Georginio Rutter saw his header cleared off the line.
United were fortunate not to be two goals behind moments later when Senne Lammens gifted the ball to Welbeck on the edge of United’s area, but the Belgian redeemed himself with a save to deny the Brighton striker.
Welbeck, though, made amends after the break, rifling home a superb finish into the top corner to double Brighton’s lead shortly after the hour mark.
United, who lacked quality in the final third for large swathes of this encounter, did give themselves hope a late comeback when Benjamin Sesko headed home at the back post from a corner in the 85th minute.
But the Red Devils were unable to find an equaliser in the closing stages, and instead ended the game with ten men after substitute Shea Lacey was shown two yellow cards in quick succession.
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United are back in Premier League action next weekend as they face arch-rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford, while Brighton host Bournemouth looking to make it five games unbeaten in all competitions.
Relive all the action from Old Trafford with Metro’s LIVE matchday blog below:
