Manchester United entered the new year determined to erase past failures and finish the season with silverware. Instead, their hopes were crushed just 11 days into 2026 after a historic FA Cup defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
For the first time in FA Cup history, Brighton knocked Manchester out, sealing a painful early exit and ending the Red Devils’ final realistic title ambition.
FA Cup Exit Deepens United’s Crisis
Former Manchester striker Danny Welbeck once again haunted his boyhood club, as Brighton claimed a 2-1 victory in the third round. It marked Brighton’s first-ever FA Cup win over United, overturning six previous defeats in the competition.
The loss capped a chaotic week for Manchester that began with the dismissal of Ruben Amorim and ended with Darren Fletcher’s final match as interim boss.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Brian Gruda opened the scoring in the 12th minute before Welbeck struck his eighth career goal against United in the 65th minute, further silencing Old Trafford.
Historic Low Point for the Red Devils
United briefly reignited hope when Benjamin Sesko pulled one back in the 85th minute. However, the comeback collapsed moments later as 18-year-old Shea Lacey was sent off after receiving two quick yellow cards.
The defeat confirmed a grim statistic: for the first time since the 1981–82 season, Manchester United has failed to progress beyond the first round of both the League Cup and FA Cup. As a result, they are set to play just 40 matches this season — their lowest total in 111 years.
“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒘,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃.
With United sitting 17 points behind Arsenal in the Premier League, any realistic title challenge is effectively over just days into the new year.
Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele played a key role, denying early efforts from Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes to maintain control of the match.
Elsewhere, Arsenal cruised into the fourth round with a commanding 4-1 win over Portsmouth, powered by a Gabriel Martinelli hat-trick — underlining the growing gap between United and the league’s elite.
Also Read: Barcelona Crushes Real Madrid Again to Lift Spanish Super Cup
