Brighton & Hove Albion win more important than Liverpool one, says Ruben Amorim

MANCHESTER – Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said his side’s 4-2 English Premier League victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Oct 25 was more important than the last one over Liverpool.

A double from Bryan Mbeumo and goals from Matheus Cunha and Casemiro helped United secure a third consecutive Premier League win for the first time since August 2024, before Amorim had taken charge.

There were nervy late moments as Brighton mounted a comeback at Old Trafford with Danny Welbeck and Charalampos Kostoulas pulling it back to 3-2 late on, but United held on to build on their first Anfield victory since 2016 and climb to fourth in the table.

“The players understood really well what to do in every moment,” Amorim said. “We had to suffer a bit at the end, but it wouldn’t be United without a bit of suffering.

“I have that feeling, I think it was a more complete performance than at Liverpool. You can say Liverpool did not deserve to win that game though, we deserved to win.

“Today we did everything. When it is like this, I feel more complete as a manager. I like this win more than last week.”

Amorim singled out Cunha, who scored his first goal for United, and Mbeumo for special praise as the pair continued to settle quickly at United.

“He (Cunha) feels more confident if the game is harder, I really like the way he defends today he was not jumping all the time,” Amorim added.

“When he has the ball, I have no concerns about his ability at all. He was struggling about not scoring goals, he can try to hide but everyone understood really well.

“He (Mbeumo) is a working machine, he is so good in transitions, the connection with Amad (Diallo), it is really hard because these guys are really fast, they are so good one on one.”

United’s latest win has lifted them into fourth place in the Premier League ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.

“I never had that feeling of embarrassment of not winning games, I felt (co-owner) Jim Ratcliffe always believed. But to face the fans was difficult in that moment. It’s so hard in football, everything can change in one minute,” Amorim said.

Ratcliffe recently said the under-fire Amorim would get three years to put the club back on track after their worst top-flight finish since 1973-74 last season.

While cynics doubted whether Ratcliffe would stick to his word if United continued to struggle, Amorim would have been pleased to hear that his employer was seen clapping and cheering as the hosts took control.

Brighton, meanwhile, are 13th ahead of fixtures on Oct 26 after their first loss in six matches in all competitions.

“We put ourselves in a really difficult position,” Welbeck said. “We got two goals and were closing to maybe getting a third. It didn’t happen but it is a good sign we showed character.” REUTERS, AFP