Ralf Rangnick explains how Manchester United combatted threat of Brighton - 'One of the top three teams in possession'

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes, either side of a Lewis Dunk red card, gave United a 2-0 win at Old Trafford. Click here to see our match report and here for our player ratings.

The scoreline suggests it was a comfortable performance but it was far from it, as Brighton put the hosts under serious pressure in the first half. De Gea came to the rescue on more than one occasion to keep the scores level.

"They are probably one of the top three teams in possession of the ball," Rangnick said of Brighton after the game.

"They are very possession-based with a lot of conviction and confidence. It's not so easy.

"Even teams like Manchester City and Liverpool were struggling against them. You have to go all in and take almost every risk to attack them."

Rangnick said 'this was a very important win' for Manchester United, 'even more so after the first half'.

The German said it was 'very difficult to intercept and get hold of the ball'.

"I think we had the better chances in the first half but they had far too [many] and for too long," he said.

"The supporters realised that and were a little bit anxious and nervous in the first half. That's why we had to take more risks and attack them in higher positions.

"We had a better second half than a first half.

"It paid off that we were more aggressive. We were trying to intercept and attack in higher positions.

"The question at half time was do we change formation or change the way we attack.

"We decided to stick to our 4-3-2-1. We told our two wingers, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga, to attack their centre backs and our full backs to jump to their full-backs. It paid off."

Rangnick admitted that the red card 'made things a lot easier' for his side.

He said: "It was a different game.

"We should have killed off the game much earlier. It should have been 3 or 4-0.

"We were not quite lethal or enough in those moments. In the last five minutes it's always dangerous even against ten men. You can concede a goal."

Rangnick also revealed his thinking behind the decision to bring on Alex Telles to play alongside fellow left-back Luke Shaw.

"Their right side with Lamptey was dangerous," he said. "He was almost playing as a right winger in the last 10, 15 minutes.

"That's why we decided to bring on Alex Telles to support Luke Shaw on that side."