Manchester United midfielder admits the Red Devils had to work hard to beat Brighton

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic was glad to hold on for all three points under increasing pressure against Brighton & Hove Albion yesterday.
Nemanja Matic on the ball against Brighton. Picture by PW Sporting PhotographyNemanja Matic on the ball against Brighton. Picture by PW Sporting Photography
Nemanja Matic on the ball against Brighton. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

Albion finished strongly in their 2-1 Premier League defeat and there was relief all around Old Trafford when the final whistle blew.

Paul Pogba's penalty and Marcus Rashford's goal just before half-time put United in control but Pascal Gross made it 2-1 with 18 minutes to go.

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Brighton then pressed for an equaliser but United stood firm and speaking to MUTV afterwards, Matic said: “The last 10-15 minutes were hard, but I think that we played good football today, we created a lot of chances.

“I think that the manager is happy with the first 75 minutes, but the last 10-15 minutes we dropped a little bit. They tried to use set-pieces to play long balls, they put some big guys up front and it was hard for us, but we managed to control it, in the end, to take three points which is very important for us."

Matic added United were aware of Brighton's threat from set-pieces and said: ”In the Premier League, it's always hard.

”You cannot be sure you are always in control especially against this team, they are very strong at set-pieces, they have two big guys on that and they try to use them.

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“We knew it, we saw some of their games which were enough to show they can hurt us but as I said, we managed to control it and to win and I'm happy for our team and our supporters.

"We will try to give our best to reach the top four until the end of the season.”

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