Cristiano Ronaldo ends goal drought as Manchester United beat Brighton in Premier League

Portuguese veteran scores first goal in six games but Red Devils struggle to finish off 10-man Seagulls

Cristiano Ronaldo smashes Manchester United into the lead in their 2-0 Premier League victory over Brighton at Old Trafford on Tuesday, February 15, 2022. Reuters

Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister shoots at goal. Reuters

United's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring. Reuters

Manchester United's Jadon Sancho sees a first-half shot saved by Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. PA

United's Cristiano Ronaldo after a missed chance. Getty

Brighton's Jakub Moder heads at goal. Reuters

Brighton's Jakub Moder shoots at goal under pressure from Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes. AP

Rereree Peter Bankes checks the pitchside monitor before sending off Brighton's Lewis Dunk. PA

Manchester United's Jadon Sancho heads the ball. Reuters

Bruno Fernandes celebrates scoring Manchester United's second goal. Getty

Referee Peter Bankes shows a red card to Brighton's Lewis Dunk. PA

United's Cristiano Ronaldo heads a chance wide in the second half. Reuters

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes scores their second goal. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his six-game scoreless streak to help Manchester United on their way to a much-needed 2-0 win against 10-man Brighton.

Having blown half-time leads to draw 1-1 in their last three matches, interim boss Ralf Rangnick called for his Jekyll and Hyde side to show their better side in Tuesday evening’s rearranged Premier League encounter.

Those calls fell on deaf ears in the first half as incoherent United were dominated by Brighton, only for a Ronaldo strike and Lewis Dunk red card early in the second half to change the course of the evening.

Bruno Fernandes’ stoppage-time strike wrapped up a 2-0 win that sees them move up to fourth, but Rangnick will know their Champions League rivals have games in hand on a side that remain incapable of impressing over 90 minutes.

Graham Potter’s Seagulls dominated for large periods of a first half in which David de Gea superbly denied Jakub Moder, with boos greeting the hosts’ display at the half-time whistle.

But things changed within minutes of the restart as Ronaldo scored his first goal of 2022. The Portuguese veteran collected Scott McTominay's pass before attacking the Brighton defence and smashing a low shot beyond Sanchez.

Three minutes later, Anthony Elanga’s pace caught out Dunk and referee Peter Bankes showed the Albion captain red after reviewing the footage on the pitchside monitor.

United had a number of great chances to wrap up victory as Ronaldo came close to scoring a hat-trick - but with Moder rattling the bar and Danny Welbeck also heading over for Brighton - before Fernandes settled nerves in stoppage time.

“It is great always when you have the three points especially after we draw the last few games. We are all very happy,” said De Gea after the match.

“We knew that Brighton is one of the teams that play very well with the ball, press very good and for me it is a very good team. We started the second half better, we scored the goal, they went a man down but a big three points and the performance was there.

“It great to be honest, a very difficult one. In that moment it was a big save because we kept a clean sheet. This is what we want in this moment, keep compact defensively. It was a great save to be honest.

“The message [at half-time] was that we are playing at home and we pressed high in the second half. We controlled the game after the red card and there was a five minute spell when they came back.”

“We should be fighting for more things than the top four, but that is the reality. There are many teams fighting for the same position and with the quality we have we should win a lot of points.”