Erik ten Hag praises four Manchester United players after defeat vs Brighton

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag praised four members of his squad following Saturday's disappointing 3-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford.

United slumped to their third defeat in their last four matches after goals either side of half-time from Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro fired the visitors into a commanding lead with just under 20 minutes of normal time remaining. Substitute Hannibal Mejbri netted his first United goal to give the home side a glimmer of hope, though it was to no avail.

United, despite starting brightly in the opening exchanges, were no match for the free-flowing Seagulls, who have won four of their opening five Premier League matches this term. The Reds have now lost four consecutive league meetings against the south coast club.

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Although it was another testing afternoon for United and Ten Hag, who will take his side to Germany in midweek to face Bayern Munich in their Champions League group stage opener, the Dutchman found positives in his side's display, not least the impact of Hannibal from the bench. He was also pleased with the contributions of Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford and full debutant Rasmus Hojlund, who had a goal chalked off in the first half by VAR.

Praising Hannibal for his impact after stepping off the bench in the second half, Ten Hag told MUTV: "He did what we brought him [on] for, having an impact and bringing energy. He did it.

"I think there were more individuals, like Diogo Dalot, [who] played very well, and Marcus Rashford had moments. Rasmus Hojlund was a threat all the time.

"We had some good players on