Under-fire Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag blamed his side’s defending for a 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League after Joao Pedro headed in a 95th-minute winner on Saturday.

United looked to have snatched a point when Amad Diallo’s deflected effort cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s first half opener for Brighton.

But Brazilian forward Pedro was given acres of space to head in at the back post to give Brighton’s 31-year-old boss Fabian Hurzeler a dream home Premier League debut.

United have spent heavily in the transfer window to reinforce their defence with the signings of Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, and Leny Yoro.

De Ligt was one of those at fault for the winner as the Dutch international and Scott McTominay were caught under the flight of Simon Adingra’s cross to pick out Pedro.

Speaking after the game, Ten Hag said: “If you protect the goal like we do then you drop points.

“We concede two soft goals where we should act better as a team. We have to be alive in such moments.”

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Defeat puts the spotlight back on Ten Hag with Liverpool set to visit Old Trafford next weekend.

The former Ajax manager survived an internal review at the end of last season, despite finishing eighth in the Premier League, thanks to winning the FA Cup.

United got a much-needed 1-0 win against Fulham to open the season last weekend thanks to Joshua Zirkzee’s late winner.

But the performances in both their first two league matches of the new campaign have done little to suggest there will be a marked improvement from a dismal season in 2023/24.

Brighton thrashed Everton 3-0 away in Hurzeler’s first match in charge and showed they will be a contender to get back into European football next season.

Hurzeler said: “Winners in the last minute are always emotional.

“The most important thing for me is the attitude of the players, they always had the belief in each other.”

The Star