Danny Welbeck made a huge mistake when taking Brighton’s free-kick, leading to the Seagulls’ opening goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Manchester United felt they were in trouble after Danny Welbeck’s free-kick, which led to Brighton’s first goal, was taken at least five yards from where the foul occurred.
Ruben Amorim’s side were comfortably winning 3-0 when Brighton were given a chance to pull one back. In the 72nd minute, Patrick Dorg was penalized for a collision with Yankuba Minte, who slipped over the goal but had a poor touch.
Referee Anthony Taylor showed Dorg a yellow card, and even after VAR reviewed the incident it was decided there was no need to raise a caution as the ball had already gone to Senne Lamence. United supporters breathed a sigh of relief that the former Lecce player was not shown a red card, but were furious that the free-kick was taken far beyond the five-yard mark from where the foul occurred.
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Video and photographic evidence clearly shows that Dorg fouled Minte approximately 28 yards from goal. However, Welbeck’s subsequent free-kick was taken 23 yards from the post.
Despite the fact that the free-kick was taken further forward than it should have been, it did nothing to detract from Welbeck’s excellent attack. The former United striker expertly lofted his shot over the wall and past Senne Lamence.
Brighton’s Charalampos Kostouras then scored another goal, sending shockwaves through Old Trafford. However, United persevered and scored their fourth goal in stoppage time, winning 4-2.
Brian Mbeumo scored twice for the Reds, with Matheus Cunha and Casemiro also scoring, as they clinched their third consecutive Premier League title for the first time since August 2024.
Reflecting on his team’s victory over Brighton, Amorim said after the match: “I feel good. I think we played well, but we suffered a bit at the end and it was our fault that we conceded the first goal.”
“At that time in the game, you could feel we were close to the fourth goal, but we didn’t score one. But they did everything. They ran, they made plays on the ball, they held the ball when they needed to. So, it was a good game.”
“We were controlling the game, but we conceded a goal,” Amorim continued. “And we struggled a little bit. They have a lot of talent. They have good quality of the ball and they control it and use that momentum to control the game. But we have improved how we respond to bad moments and we did that again today.”
“Our reactions are a little bit better, which is really important. We know how to suffer. If we can suffer together, it becomes much easier to win games.”
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