Graham Potter’s 100th Premier League game in charge of Albion might have ended in defeat but he was particularly proud of his side’s display.
Albion created a host of chances in the opening half against their top-four chasing opponents but were undone early after the break, thanks to Ronaldo’s goal and the sending off of Lewis Dunk.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Seagulls still created opportunities to get back on level terms and were pushing for an equaliser until Bruno Fernandes scored on the break with the last kick of the game to make it 2-0 to Manchester United.
Potter said, “I can’t speak highly enough of the players, they’ve been fantastic but we’re frustrated because we’ve lost the game.
“I thought there were large periods where there was an opportunity for us. [David] De Gea’s pulled off a really good save from Jakub [Moder] in the first half and we had our moments.
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“We didn’t start the second half well; we gave the ball away and they punished us, then the sending off changed the dynamic of the game, but up until then I thought we were the better team.
“I don’t think until their goal they had too much. If anything, it came from our errors, so the performance was good, but the reality is we didn’t score and they did, but the boys kept going.
“If it stayed at 11 versus 11, I think it would have been more of an interesting second half because I always thought we were in the game and causing problems.”
Potter felt Dunk’s red card on 54 minutes, for a challenge on Anthony Elanga, was a harsh one, given it was VAR that intervened to overturn the yellow card initially handed out by referee Peter Bankes.
“When I’ve seen it back, it doesn’t look a clear and obvious error. That’s my feeling, with Adam Webster on the cover. If the referee gave a red card live then I could accept it a bit more, but I don’t understand why VAR is getting involved in a clear and obvious error when it doesn’t look clear and obvious to me.
“We were frustrated with the sending off and then you have to survive with ten men at Old Trafford, but I thought the boys dug in incredibly well. We hit the bar, Danny [Welbeck] had a chance with a header, so I was really, really proud of the players in terms of what they gave.
“They kept going until the end and were fantastic. It was just a little bit frustrating because I thought we could have got something tonight.”