Ole Gunnar Solskjaer joked that it was a good job that José Mourinho was not at Amex Stadium after his Manchester United side benefited from a fickle finish from Brighton.
The Gaviotas hit the wood no less than five times and lost 3-2 to the Red Devils in dramatic fashion.
Solly March thought they had salvaged a point in the fifth minute of stoppage time, only for United to be awarded a penalty after the final VAR whistle.
Neal Maupay, who had previously scored from the point, was deemed to have handled the ball, and Bruno Fernandes confidently dispatched from 12 yards.
Mourinho ordered goals replaced before Tottenham’s win over Macedonian Shkendija in the Europa League on Thursday after their goalkeepers noticed they were too small in warm-up.
And the irony did not go unnoticed by Solskjaer after Brighton’s problem with the carpentry.
He told BT Sport: “We got away with it. Maybe we deserved a point, we didn’t deserve more. But the character deserved more.
“Last season we had too many draws, so that’s a huge advantage for us. You have to be happy that José is not here to measure the goal posts.
Manchester United are looking to chart their way back to the top. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already signed Donny van de Beek, but Jadon Sancho remains Manchester United’s number one target.
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“It’s a tough team to play against. We don’t have the legs or the sharpness, but we will make it. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Brighton boss Graham Potter cursed his team’s fate after the loss, claiming that his team was “dominant” against United.
“The level of performance was amazing from us, I am very proud of the players,” he told the BBC. “It’s painful, to say the least. Sometimes life isn’t fair and it feels like this right now.
“All the little things have worked against us, but we were very good during the 90 minutes and we have to move forward. We have developed as a group, as a team, and we will take that setback in the most positive way possible.
“I don’t know what the shot count was, but we were dominant. We deserved some of the game to say the least.”
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