Manchester United arrived at their FA Cup third-round tie with Brighton amid yet more turbulence, following the long-anticipated dismissal of Ruben Amorim.

Despite his confident public persona, the Portuguese coach left Old Trafford with one of the poorest win percentages in the club’s history. The timing of his exit felt curious, coming just as results hinted at a possible upturn. A 1-1 draw with Leeds had kept United inside the Premier League’s top six, but a fiery post-match outburst proved to be the final straw for the board.

Club stalwart Darren Fletcher was tasked with steadying the ship on an interim basis. A subsequent draw with relegation-threatened Burnley extended United’s unbeaten run to four matches, but it did little to lift the growing sense of frustration around the club.

This FA Cup meeting with Brighton offered a chance at redemption after a humiliating Carabao Cup exit to Grimsby. It also promised a brief escape from league struggles. However, Brighton represented awkward opposition, even though they had won just once in their previous eight Premier League outings.

United’s 4-2 league victory over the Seagulls back in October masked a wider trend, as it was only their second win in the last six head-to-head meetings, with Brighton winning the other four. Recent form offered little reassurance too, with the hosts having scored and conceded 10 goals apiece across their last six matches.

Fletcher inevitably leaned on captain Bruno Fernandes, who since January 2023 has been directly involved in more FA Cup goals than any other player (13 – eight goals and five assists). Brighton, meanwhile, could again call upon Pascal Gross, United’s long-standing nemesis, with seven goals against the Red Devils, four of them at Old Trafford.

United began brightly, with Diogo Dalot and Fernandes both testing Brighton early, but the initiative soon slipped away. Diego Gomez, Jack Hinshelwood and Georginio Rutter exposed familiar defensive frailties, and after 11 minutes Brajan Gruda opened the scoring with his first goal in all competitions since August.

It marked the fourth time in Brighton’s last five away matches at Old Trafford that they had scored first – a worrying statistic given they had won each of the previous three. United’s own record offered little comfort, having recovered to win just once in nine games this season when conceding first.

A brief attacking response followed, as Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha forced Brighton into action, but over 40% of the play took place in United’s defensive third, underlining the visitors’ growing control.

One clear positive for United was Kobbie Mainoo. Recalled to the side, the teenager created three chances inside the opening half-hour – more than any United player had managed in that timeframe all season. His influence was central to a spell of dominance before the break, with United enjoying 72% possession and Mainoo completing over 95% of his passes.

By half-time, the hosts were winning two-thirds of their duels, their best figure in a first half at Old Trafford this campaign. Yet promise once again failed to translate into control after the restart.

United collapsed almost immediately, conceding chance after chance before Danny Welbeck struck just after the hour mark with a superb finish against his former club. It was his eighth goal against United, matching his best tally against any opponent.

Brighton’s work rate, particularly from Gruda and Gross, proved decisive as the visitors managed the closing stages with authority. United shuffled their pack in search of inspiration, and Sesko eventually found the net late on, continuing an upturn in his personal form with his third goal in two appearances.

The goal came too late to spark a comeback, and United’s afternoon was summed up in stoppage time when teenager Shea Lacey was sent off for dissent just minutes after receiving his first yellow card. It made him the club’s first teenage red card recipient since Luke Shaw in 2015.

For United, it was another sobering cup defeat that exposed familiar flaws. For Brighton, it was yet another reminder that trips to Old Trafford no longer carry fear, as the Seagulls marched confidently into the next round.