Plenty of possession but few chances – Erik ten Hag era gets off to slow start

Manchester United opened their season with a dismal 2-1 loss to Brighton at Old Trafford in the first competitive game of manager Erik ten Hag’s reign.

Here, the PA news agency assesses the statistics that led to their defeat.

United were slow out of the traps and ultimately gave themselves too much to do. Brighton had 12 shots to United’s four up to the point at which they took their 2-0 lead and though those figures ended up almost equal, the damage was done.

United improved after the 53rd-minute introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo, and had 10 shots to Brighton’s two from that point on in addition to the scruffy Alexis Mac Allister own goal that got them on the scoresheet, but their final tally of 17 shots to Brighton’s 15 – and five on target to four – did not reflect their dominance of possession.

United had almost 63 per cent of possession in the game and completed over 200 passes more than their opponents, 548 to 326.

Their back four of Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw – plus late substitute Tyrell Malacia – accounted for 260 of those and, while it is far from unusual to see defenders top the passing charts and playmakers Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen were also high up the rankings, United were unable to make enough of an impact in attacking areas.

United rarely threatened even if they were marked down for two ‘big chances missed’ on the Premier League website, with Marcus Rashford and Dalot the men held responsible. It may be some concern that Dalot’s fellow defender Martinez ranked as their joint leader for total shots, alongside Rashford and Eriksen with three.

United made over 20 crosses, with Fernandes and Eriksen’s involvement often coming in those situations, but aside from