United alive and kicking in injury time

Fernandes’s winner, which came after referee Chris Kavanagh had initially blown for full-time, concluded an enthralling match. In the thrilling contest, Brighton hit the woodwork five times and had a penalty overturned after a VAR review, while United had a goal ruled out in each half for offside.

Brighton’s Neal Maupay gave away the decisive penalty with a handball as he tried to block a late header from United captain Harry Maguire. His move led to a VAR review after Kavanagh had signalled for the game to end.

Kavanagh eventually gave the penalty after consulting the pitch-side VAR monitor and Fernandes lashed the ball into the net from the spot, moments after Solly March had levelled for Brighton in the fifth minute of added time.

Earlier, Brighton took a deserved lead when Maupay coolly slotted in a penalty in the 40th minute after a foul by Fernandes. But, the visitor soon equalised with an own goal from Lewis Dunk.

A brilliant solo strike from Marcus Rashford gave United the lead in the 55th minute. Prior to that, Rashford and Mason Greenwood had goals ruled out for offside while Paul Pogba was relieved to see a possible penalty overturned by a VAR review.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was happy to admit that his side had ridden its luck. “We got away with one. Maybe, one point we deserved, we didn’t deserve more. But the character deserved more,” he told reporters.

RESULT: Brighton 2 lost to Manchester United 3.