Fernandes sets record as Manchester United win but Brighton still qualify for Europe

Sussex by the sea will host Conference League football next season even if Brighton could not meet their side of the bargain. They let their fate drop from their control, making for an anxious afternoon of relying on results elsewhere and a decent 5G connection to bring good tidings. Eventually, as players stood in the centre circle, the good news arrived.

At 6.01pm European football was secured by events on Merseyside and Wearside. Manchester United, third place and Champions League football long in the bag, in the first game of Michael Carrick’s reign as permanent manager, had dazzled in the sun. History was made by Bruno Fernandes supplying a record 21st assist of the Premier League season.

A summer of expectation awaits for United. They have come a long way since Ruben Amorim’s constipated brand of football. Can the improvements made under Carrick sustain them in next season’s far more packed schedule. Casemiro has already bade fond farewell to Manchester, and flown to Madrid before his World Cup summer, and a mooted move to Major League Soccer. That leaves the gap in midfield that United must fill this summer, with Atalanta’s Ederson reported to be the most likely candidate. Last summer, Carlos Baleba was a player in whom United were interested, but was benched by Fabian Hürzeler in favour of James Milner, one of four Brighton starters older than their manager.

At the Amex, in Casemiro’s former position, Mason Mount, a player whose United career is yet to find much momentum, was alongside Kobbie Mainoo, whose revival under Carrick has cemented a plane ticket to the World Cup. Mainoo was asked to drop deeper than when alongside his Brazilian mentor.

Fernandes, chasing the record Roy Keane has dismissed as a frippery, issued Keane-style invective as United made a slow start. Brighton were by far the more purposeful but short on chance creation until Maxim De Cuyper whipped a low shot wide.

Manchester United’s Patrick Dorgu celebrates scoring their first goal. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images/Reuters

Luke Shaw, completing a season of ever-presence, and Harry Maguire, both discarded by Thomas Tuchel, were mocked by home fans. Their United counterparts meanwhile celebrated the departure of Pep Guardiola. When United began to enjoy a spell of possession, Sussex anxieties began to surface. News from elsewhere led to chatter. Live tables were checked, permutations picked over. Was the presence of Gordon Smith, introduced to the crowd beforehand, infamous for his 1983 FA Cup final miss against United, an omen?

United had appeared unhurried but then Fernandes, after dallying over a corner, landed his record. His outswinger was met by Patrick Dorgu’s towering header. That relegated Brighton from Europa League to Conference League as it stood. Mainoo’s gallop to the byline brought further worries and gasps followed when Diego Gómez twice scuffed decent chances.

Bryan Mbeumo’s goal, created by a brilliant interchange between Fernandes and Amad Diallo sent home fans scurrying to the concourses for half-time restitution. On the sidelines, Hürzeler’s angry reaction was matched by that of Milner. At the break, Yankuba Minteh was introduced in De Cuyper’s stead but United again had the ball in the net within four minutes, Fernandes lashing in Dorgu’s pass. An offside flag curtailed the celebrations, only for them to resume once the video assistant referee ruled Dorgu had been onside.

The contest all but won, United turned on the style with tricks and flicks. Home fans’ attentions turned to Anfield, where a Brentford win would deny Brighton, as might a Chelsea win at Sunderland, convolutions beyond their team’s ken. When Lewis Dunk went close to playing Fernandes through with an underamped backpass, Bart Verbruggen was asked to make repeated saves and then Gómez missed another chance, a collective head loss was in session.

A triple substitution included Baleba’s arrival in place of Milner, changes too late for any rescue mission to be possible. For United, on came Shea Lacey, a teenager last seen receiving a red card in the FA Cup loss to Brighton during the interregnum that followed Amorim’s departure and preceded Carrick’s interim appointment. So did Tyler Fletcher, whose father, Darren presided over that cup tie. Cameo roles in the final game of a season where the United soap opera had several plot twists but has ended in an equilibrium and calm rarely enjoyed in the post-Ferguson era.

Hürzeler and home fans howled when Minteh was penalised for fouling Lacey in the box; impotent rage mirrored by what felt like an interminable wait for news of Brentford falling short at Liverpool. Only then could the celebrations begin.