Monday’s briefing: Brutal assessment from Amorim and derby delight for Toone

Manchester United’s inconsistency was on show in a 3-1 defeat to Brighton as boss Ruben Amorim admitted his side might be the “worst” in the history of the club.

A 10th Premier League loss of the season left United 13th in the table, two places above Tottenham, who went down to defeat at Everton.

In the Women’s Super League, Ella Toone scored a hat-trick in a pulsating Manchester derby to earn bragging rights for United with a 4-2 win against City.

Manchester United’s inconsistencies continue

Brighton capitalised on another poor display from Manchester United to win 3-1 at Old Trafford.

Monday’s briefing: Brutal assessment from Amorim and derby delight for Toone

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The victory was their third straight away win at United, with Georginio Rutter taking advantage of an error from goalkeeper Andre Onana to seal the three points in the 76th minute after Kaoru Mitoma had put the visitors ahead after half-time.

Bruno Fernandes’s 23rd-minute penalty cancelled out an early opener from Yankuba Minteh, but another inconsistent performance means United remain stuck in 13th, having won just one of their last six league games.

Amorim said: “I am not going to change, no matter what. I know we can succeed, but we need to survive this moment. I am not naive. We need to survive now.

“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you want headlines, but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that.”

Six of the best for City

City enjoyed a successful afternoon after thumping strugglers Ipswich 6-0 at Portman Road.

Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and James McAtee were on target, along with Erling Haaland, who celebrated his new nine-and-a-half year contract with a goal.

But Phil Foden was the star of the show with a brace, taking his tally to five goals in his last three league outings, and Pep Guardiola believes the City midfielder should commit his entire career to the club.

Guardiola said: “He should not (leave). He can be a one-club man and finish his career here and play many, many years. At his age and with the amount of goals, the amount of games, the amount of assists, his work ethic.

“The biggest quality is that around the box he has goals in his blood, his bones, in his mind. He thinks, ‘I’m going to score’.”

Close calls for Everton and Nottingham Forest

Everton and Forest held on to claim 3-2 victories against Tottenham and Southampton respectively.

A one-sided first half saw the Toffees score three times against an injury-hit Spurs, who responded through Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison but ultimately fell to a 12th league defeat of the season.

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou said: “It wasn’t a great first half. I guess the majority of that is down to me. I changed the team and changed the structure (to a three-man defence).

“We had a couple of setbacks in terms of player availability and we struggled to get control of the game and allowed Everton to capitalise on that.

“Obviously at half-time we had a mountain to climb. Fair play to the players, they kept going until the end but ultimately fell short.”

A similar story saw high-flying Forest survive a second-half Southampton fightback to keep the pressure on Liverpool and Arsenal at the top as they claimed a seventh win from their last eight outings.

Toone’s treble

Toone was at the centre of an entertaining Manchester derby which saw United stun City to win 4-2.

The England forward scored twice either side of Leah Galton’s tap-in to hand United a 3-0 lead inside 36 minutes, but City pulled two goals just before the break.

Despite the promise of a City fightback, Toone completed her hat-trick only seconds into the second half, pouncing on a mistake from goalkeeper Khiara Keating to seal a memorable win for Marc Skinner’s side.

Elsewhere in the WSL, Chelsea and Arsenal recorded thumping 5-0 victories in their games against West Ham and Crystal Palace respectively.

Alli’s Serie A switch

Dele Alli will be aiming to get his football career back on track after joining Cesc Fabregas’s Como.

The 28-year-old has signed a 18-month deal with the Italian outfit, who are 17th in the Serie A table.

Alli has not played competitively since 2023 after a lengthy lay-off due to injury, addiction and mental health problems and became a free agent last summer but continued to train with old side Everton.

Former Arsenal, Chelsea and Spain midfielder Fabregas said: “The club believes in Dele’s potential and is committed to helping him rediscover his best form.

“His experience and leadership qualities will undoubtedly benefit the squad.”

What’s on today?

The weekend’s Premier League action concludes on Monday night as Chelsea host Wolves.

The Blues will be aiming to end their five game winless league run, which has seen them slide down to sixth, having not won a match since December 15.

Strugglers Wolves languish in 17th place in the table and suffered a midweek defeat to Newcastle.

Elsewhere, Villareal take on Mallorca in LaLiga, while Como face Udinese in Serie A.