Brighton move closer to Europa League with stoppage-time win vs Man United

Alexis Mac Allister converted from the penalty spot to give Brighton a 1-0 stoppage-time victory over Manchester United, and 6th place in the Premier League table, at Amex Stadium on Thursday.

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The victory sends Brighton (55 points) beyond Aston Villa and Tottenham (both on 54 points) as Roberto De Zerbi’s side, which has two games in hand on Spurs and Villa, closes in on Europa League qualification. Manchester United (63 points – 4th place) are suddenly not so far ahead that the Seagulls can’t conceivably catch them, though Brighton only have one game in hand on the Red Devils.

Though it so nearly ended scoreless, Brighton vs Manchester United was anything but boring or uneventful. The two sides combined to take 37 shots, with 10 saves and 2.88 xG between them before the decisive penalty kick nearly 10 minutes into stoppage time.

WATCH BRIGHTON vs MANCHESTER UNITED FULL MATCH REPLAY

Kaoru Mitoma had Brighton’s first and perhaps best scoring chance (from open play) after just four minutes, as the Japanese international raced in behind and met the out-rushing David de Gea one on one. Mitoma looked likely to score given his recent form, but he blasted the ball into De Gea’s face, resulting in a lengthy treatment stoppage.

Manchester United’s two best looks also came in the first half, with Antony pulling a shot wide in just the 2nd minute and Marcus Rashford having his left-footed shot saved by Jason Steele in the 28th.

The critical moment came in the 95th minute, when a Brighton corner kick soared toward the penalty spot, with Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw going up to win the header. Lindelof couldn’t get his head to the ball and neither could Shaw, but Shaw did get a