Manchester United need to be in Champions League, warns Erik ten Hag

Erik ten Hag has placed his faith in his Manchester United players to respond to setbacks as he made it clear Champions League qualification is non-negotiable.

The manager watched in horror as Luke Shaw conceded a last-gasp penalty for handball at Brighton on Thursday night; Alexis Mac Allister converted to bring an end to United’s five-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, which featured four wins.

Ten Hag cut an agitated figure as the tackles flew in at the Amex Stadium, claiming that Brighton were guilty of tactical fouls to stop United counterattacks, some of them heavy. He also raged when Shaw was penalised for a challenge on Julio Enciso, saying the defender had merely stood his ground, which led to the corner that produced the decisive penalty.

Brighton had their own grievances with the officials, arguing that they ought to have had two previous penalties following tackles on Kaoru Mitoma. They wanted a second yellow card for Casemiro after he fouled Mac Allister, which did not come, while there was also a flashpoint involving Antony. The United winger, seething when he heard no whistle after going down, rushed over to challenge Mac Allister and simply kicked him. He escaped with a booking.

It was a bad-tempered game, an overspill perhaps of the FA Cup semi-final between the teams from the Sunday before last, which United won on penalties. However, Ten Hag was calm as he looked ahead to Sunday’s trip to West Ham, knowing his players have almost always followed defeat with victory. The only exception was at the start of the season after the opening weekend defeat at home to Brighton. In their next game, United slumped 4-0 at Brentford.

“We have every time in the season when we had a defeat … then we bounced