Manchester United suffered a dramatic last-minute defeat at the Amex Stadium last night in their Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion and Erik ten Hag will surely be feeling frustrated with the opportunity missed to pick up important points.
The Red Devils retain their position in fourth and remain four points clear of their bitter rivals Liverpool, however, there is no doubt that dropping points on the south coast will put pressure on the team as they head into their final five fixtures.
Despite staying in the game for over 90 minutes, Man United had just 40% of the ball, fewer shots on goal (16 v 22), fewer big chances created (1 v 2), fewer accurate passes (287 v 473) and fewer duels won (47 v 49), which was ultimately a testament to the poor mistakes made that cost the visitors the game.
The meeting with the Seagulls was always set to be a challenging task for United, considering they had already lost at Old Trafford against them this season and it was a cagey affair throughout for both sides.
It was relatively uneventful in the first half, however, in the final 45 minutes, frustrations started to boil over at both ends of the pitch, with the most notable clash unfolding between Antony, Alexis Mac Allister and Lewis Dunk in the 70th minute.
The game looked to end in a stalemate on the south coast, but a costly mistake was caused by Luke Shaw, who committed a handball inside the box four minutes into added time, handing Mac Allister the perfect last-minute penalty to snatch all three points from his opponents.
Indeed, an otherwise faultless Shaw would be the headliner in the disappointing and dramatic ending against Brighton, but many other players on the pitch lacked intensity and offered nothing of note to prevent the situation that Man United found themselves in.
How did Fred get on vs Brighton?
The Brazilian midfielder earned his opportunity to return to the starting XI for the first time in a while after becoming a bit-part player in more recent league games but failed to prove to Ten Hag that he has what it takes to be a regular feature.
Over his 76-minute performance, the £120k-per-week passenger had fewer touches than David De Gea (37) and completed just 17 accurate passes.
Indeed, it was a dismal outing for the midfielder, with MEN's Samuel Luckhurst perhaps summarising it best. Writing in his post-match player ratings, the journalist said that Fred "was not remotely influential and too often sloppy with his passes."
Furthermore, the former Shakhtar Donetsk man lost five duels and failed to complete 100% of his dribbles, as well as losing possession of the ball ten times and committing two fouls.
Such a disappointing display meant that he would go on to be replaced by Marcel Sabitizer.
Thus, if last night was an audition for Fred to show his manager that he can be relied upon to look after the ball and be effective in the centre of the pitch, then he has categorically failed and would be lucky to find himself starting in the team at the weekend when Man United face West Ham United.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see how Ten Hag moves forward with his selections over the remaining fixtures, as the team against Brighton struggled to deliver when it mattered most.