Michael Carrick will be embarrassed by alarming trend across all Brighton goals vs Man United

Manchester United only have themselves to blame for being knocked out of the Carabao Cup.

Old Trafford was rocking when Shea Lacey and Mason Mount gave Manchester United a rapid 2-0 lead against Brighton.

But United’s lead didn’t just fall away, it crumbled. Disastrously. Brighton were by far the better side for the remaining 80 minutes, becoming the first team to win at Old Trafford from 2-0 down in 50 years.

Michael Carrick looked like a ghost on the touchline as Brighton ran rampant, and in all three of their goals, there was a very worrying pattern.

Manchester United are making costly mistakes

United took their foot off the gas after scoring twice and mistakes quickly crept into the performance, especially in an inexperienced defence.

The first Brighton goal came from Benjamin Sesko being wrestled off the ball, followed by one long pass played over the head of Ayden Heaven. Debutant Karl Darlow didn’t come to claim the ball, and United were punished.

That was only the first mistake.

Brighton’s second goal came from another rookie error, when both Heaven and Leny Yoro left acres of space between them as a centre-back pairing and the ball was recklessly given away. Pascal Gross simply picked up a loose ball, turned and scored.

It was clear that United’s confidence was shot from then on. The hosts failed to keep the ball, and almost every pass was lethargic or misplaced. When Noussair Mazraoui was caught down the left, Brighton charged in behind and found a third goal.

All three goals came from costly individual mistakes, not Brighton’s brilliance. United are too easy to play against, because opponents end up being gifted chances through errors.

Michael Carrick lacked a plan after taking the lead

Errors are made by players on the pitch, and every United player needs to take responsibility for losing control against Brighton.

But Carrick is not blameless. United took the lead but lacked a clear plan to take control and kill the tie.

Carrick was figured out by Fabian Hurzeler and it was Brighton who stepped up the tempo at Old Trafford. United were left scrambling and helpless, and none of Carrick’s substitutions helped.

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Kobbie Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Joshua Zirkzee were brought on, but it looked little more than Carrick throwing on attacking players and hoping for more attacking output.

The reality is that United couldn’t even get the ball to their forwards because they were being systematically picked apart by a better-coached side.