Cristiano Ronaldo, the player with the most international goals in football history, scored his first goal of the year and his first as a 37-year-old.
His longest goal drought is broken after 588 minutes of football and 47 days.
In the process, a multiple Champions League winner helped Manchester United claim their place among Europe’s elite, with he and Bruno Fernandes propelling them back to fourth place.
Since 2009, Ronaldo had not gone seven games without scoring, and Brighton had never beaten United at Old Trafford. The first few minutes suggested that history could be created, but Albion were undone by a horrific three-minute run in which Ronaldo scored and Lewis Dunk was sent off.
Watch Ronaldo’s goal below;
Sascha Lense, Ralf Rangnick’s sports psychologist, was requested to speak to United’s players about their habit of surrendering first-half leads.
His words may not have had the expected impact, as they hobbled in with parity at halftime, lacking the initial incision that they have displayed recently.
Their only real effort before the break was a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick that hit the crossbar and a solitary decent chance. Even that came as a result of a defensive blunder, as Jadon Sancho had a chance to open the scoring for the third game in a row at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo has a propensity of loitering offside, and his indolence was rewarded when Adam Webster mishandled a pass forward, allowing the striker to go free.With a clever backheel, he sent the ball into the path of the advancing Sancho, but Robert Sánchez was equal to the winger’s shot.
Despite the fact that Sancho was United’s most nimble attacker at the start, the majority of those who made an early impression were in blue and white.
The fact that Brighton enjoyed 59 percent possession in the first period, much of it in United’s half, was a sign of their ambition.
Rangnick turned to a 4-2-3-1 configuration with a quarter of the game gone in an attempt to seize control, but Graham Potter shaped the game by structuring his team with a midfield diamond.
If the purpose was to outnumber United in the middle of the field, it was also a goal threat. He has a team that is full of inventiveness. At No. 10, he chose Jakub Moder, and both his strategy and individual choices almost paid off.
Messi misses PK Against Madrid but Mbappe late winner helped PSG
Lionel Messi has tied Thierry Henry with the most missed penalties in Champions League history, while also overtaking Cristiano Ronaldo in penalty attempts.
In the competition, he’s missed five of 23 penalty tries, the most recent of which came in Paris Saint-last-16 Germain’s win against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
After Kylian Mbappe had won the penalty kick, Thibaut Courtois dove the perfect way to deny Messi.Outside of Messi’s saved penalty, Real Madrid were mainly content to sit back and defend at the Parc des Princes for the majority of the first leg between European heavyweights.
PSG, on the other hand, scored in stoppage time to win 1-0, with Kylian Mbappe firing through Courtois’ legs from a Neymar Jr assist.
