100% long balls, 8/11 ground duels won: One United star stands tall despite Brighton nightmare | OneFootball

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Manchester United midfielder Youri Tielemans performed well despite him and his teammates being dumped out of the Carabao Cup at the first time of asking by Brighton & Hove Albion.

New low

United’s season went from bad to worse as they surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose to Brighton and come crashing out of the Carabao Cup.

The Red Devils cruised to a commanding two-goal lead inside 10 minutes courtesy of strikes from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount.

But Charalampos Kostoulas pulled a goal back in first-half stoppage time before Pascal Gross, who netted the eighth goal of his career against United, halved the deficit. Maxim De Cuyper completed the comeback in the 70th minute to shock Old Trafford.

As Brighton gained the ascendancy, United ran out of ideas and appeared increasingly disjointed. More concerning still, they had no response for Brighton, who came from behind with comfort to secure their place in the next round.

Questions will be asked about many of the United players, but very few will be critical of Tielemans.

Tielemans’ display

With Bruno Fernandes named on the bench, Tielemans was handed the captain’s armband.

He registered four shots, although none of them were on target. The Belgium international delivered with trademark brilliance on the ball. He found a United teammate with 51 of the 56 passes he attempted (91% pass accuracy).

Tielemans also connected with the one long ball he pinged (100% cross accuracy).

The 29-year-old touched the ball 78 times and completed two of the three dribbles he embarked on. He also drew two fouls.

The United No. 18 was defensively solid, winning four of the tackles he attempted. Tielemans prevailed in eight of the 11 ground duels he contested, as well as two of his three aerial duels.

He contributed an additional three recoveries and one clearance.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Tielemans and United are next in action on Sunday when they go away to Fulham.