Ralf Rangnick labels Man Utd ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ after home victory; provides Varane update

Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick has called his team ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ after their 2-0 win against Brighton.

United were under huge pressure after drawing their last two Premier League games 1-1, against Burnley and Southampton respectively.

They failed to impress in the first half, with Jadon Sancho missing a guilt-edged chance early on. The Red Devils could have gone behind before half-time if it weren’t for David de Gea. He pulled off a magnificent save to deny Jakub Moder’s 39th-minute header.

Rangnick’s team talk clearly worked as United were much better after the interval, even if it didn’t last for the full 90 minutes.

Scott McTominay harried Yves Bissouma and found Cristiano Ronaldo, who bagged the opener with a venomous strike. That ended his run of six games without a goal.

Brighton went down to 10 men not long afterwards as Lewis Dunk fouled Anthony Elanga when the youngster was through on goal.

United gradually tired and Moder hit the crossbar in the 78th minute. But the win was secured in stoppage time as Bruno Fernandes made it 2-0 after a swift counter attack.

During a post-match interview with BBC Sport, Rangnick said: “First half was Mr Hyde, second half Dr Jekyll and for a change it (the result) was different. In the end it was important to get the three points against an in form team. Brighton are very possession based, full of confidence and we had to take more risks in the second half, it paid off.

“We scored the goal and got the red card for Lewis Dunk with a brilliant interception from Anthony Elanga. It should have been 3-0, 4-0 after 75 minutes but there is a bit of lack of assuredness in front of goal.

“We realised that they had too often possession of the ball and could only