Brighton triumph as Chelsea inflict more misery on Manchester United; Bournemouth and Coventry post facile wins

Brighton inflicted a second straight Premier League defeat on Manchester City with a 1-0 win to close within two points of the leaders on Saturday, while Manchester United slumped to another damaging defeat for Michael Carrick at Chelsea.

Third-placed Brighton ended their wait for a first ever away win against City at the 18th attempt to bolster dreams of challenging for the title.

The Seagulls have never won a major trophy but have already beaten champions Arsenal convincingly this season to show their title credentials.

Fabian Hurzeler’s men got revenge for defeat to City on penalties in the League Cup on Wednesday.

Hurzeler felt aggrieved at that result after his side twice led at the Etihad and this time held on after Yasin Ayari slotted them into an 11th-minute lead.

Bart Verbruggen was inspired in the Brighton goal to see off a City onslaught after half-time.

But the visitors were well worthy of a famous win and could also have added to their lead when Jack Hinshelwood hit the side-netting late on.

City won their opening seven league games as Enzo Maresca made a flawless start to the daunting task of succeeding Pep Guardiola.

Defeat for Maresca’s men means Arsenal can go top of the table if they avoid losing at Liverpool on Sunday.

Manchester United’s nine-game winless run is their longest without victory for 38 years after a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea.

The Red Devils were left to regret not taking advantage of a series of first half chances to take the lead before they imploded in the second period.

Morgan Rogers was allowed to run straight through the heart of the United defence to open the scoring.

Lisandro Martinez then did his under-pressure manager no favours with two quickfire yellow cards, the second of which also conceded a penalty.

Cole Palmer converted from the spot to lift Chelsea into the top four.

“The two halves of football couldn’t probably be further apart,” said Carrick, who added he expects to be in charge for Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Roma. “We looked in a good place going into half-time and then found a way of unravelling it second half.”

Only Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Brentford ensured United did not drop into the bottom three.

Nikola Milenkovic’s own goal and Igor Thiago’s strike took the Bees up to sixth.

Bournemouth extended their fine form with a 2-0 win over Leeds thanks to goals from Evanilson and Amine Adli.

Sunderland remain rooted to the foot of the table after a 3-1 defeat at Coventry. Hull and Ipswich played out a 2-2 draw.

Carrick said he expects to remain in charge of Manchester United for Tuesday’s Champions League visit of Roma despite a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea.

“Yes,” Carrick told TNT Sports when asked if he expected to remain in charge for the Roma match.

“We’ve got to move forward. We’ve got to take the things that we felt worked for us today and take a bit of belief and the confidence from that and a lot of the good things, especially in the first half.”

“From being in such a good place in the first half, the two halves of football couldn’t probably be more further apart in some ways,” added Carrick.

“I think the way they went about it and played, the quality of football and the way we played in the first half, definitely gives encouragement. We’ve got to take that.”

Two defeats in their first three Champions League games have left United 20th in the 36-team table and at risk of missing out on the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa have announced plans to take legal action against former Liverpool defender-turned-pundit Jamie Carragher for what the club described as “unacceptable insults” about the club and its supporters.

Carragher, a prominent pundit with Sky Sports and CBS, has been hit with a backlash by Villa fans for suggesting that manager Unai Emery should be a candidate to replace the under-fire Michael Carrick at Manchester United.

“Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans,” Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris said in a short statement posted on the club’s social media feeds.

Agencies