LIVERPOOL – Liverpool beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 on Sunday to grab their first home win of the Premier League season, while Manchester United slumped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth that will heap further pressure on under-fire manager Michael Carrick, who benched captain Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese playmaker was left out of the starting team after criticising Carrick’s tactics in a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Italian side Como in mid-week.
Any hope that the move might inspire the rest of the side evaporated when Rayan scored for the Cherries in the 38th minute, with Marcus Tavernier adding a second goal before the break.
Evanilson’s superb third saw a trickle of fans head for the exits, and that trickle became a flood as the end approached with Fernandes still on the bench and very little sign that United would be capable of mounting any sort of a comeback.
With the final whistle greeted by a loud chorus of boos, the defeat left Carrick’s side in 16th place on seven points, one above the relegation zone, and they are without a win in the league since beating Ipswich Town 5-2 on August 30.
The only consolation for the beleaguered coach came from the fans who remained to cheer him as he left the pitch before booing the players who had again failed to deliver on the field.
“It wasn’t a farewell from me. I’m mixed emotions, I’m feeling it for my players, they’re going through a tough spell. Some of it we can help, some of it, the situation unravels and the boys are feeling it at the moment,” he told Sky Sports before admitting that his future was uncertain.
“It’s a tough situation, there’s no hiding from it. What it looks like and what’s next I really don’t know. I will always do my best for the football club and I won’t change that now. I love what I do and I feel the responsibility. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Stand-in captain Harry Maguire said that the United players needed to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
“That’s the most important thing – think what you can do more and what more you can contribute to the team, and if we do that we’ll get somewhere,” he told Sky Sports.
“This is a huge club and every day you have to prove why you’re wearing this badge. At the moment, we’re not doing enough as players. Michael turned our season on its head last year, and we played brilliant football and got brilliant results – this season, we haven’t performed well enough as individuals.”
Liverpool enjoyed a much more positive afternoon as they welcomed high-flying Brighton to Anfield, netting twice in a high-energy first half to bring an excellent run of four league wins on the trot for the Seagulls to a shuddering halt.
Brighton defender Pascal Gross steered a Florian Wirtz shot into his own net in the 17th minute, and Alexander Isak scored the second with a deftly taken first-time finish from Bradley Barcola’s pass four minutes later to secure the win.
“I think today the performance was really good, really solid, against a really good team,” Isak said after netting for the third league game in a row.
“The first half is really what we want to be about – intensity and winning balls and encountering. So yeah, I’m really happy, especially with the first half.”
The win lifts Liverpool to fourth in the table on 15 points, one behind Brighton. Manchester City remain top of the standings on 21 points despite dropping their first points of the season on Saturday in a 2-1 reverse against Aston Villa, with Arsenal in second place on goal difference.
Newcastle United got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace, while Hull City were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford.