Manchester United continued their impressive recent form at Old Trafford.
Manchester United claimed a third successive win as Matheus Cunha opened his account for the club and Bryan Mbeumo scored twice in a 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Cunha was United’s first signing of the transfer window, but the Brazil forward had failed to find the net in any of his first eight games for the club.
But he broke his duck in the 24th minute, lashing into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box.
Brazil team-mate Casemiro then doubled the lead with a deflected effort, before Mbeumo gave United complete command when he curled inside the near post following good work from Benjamin Sesko.
Danny Welbeck gave Brighton a glimmer of hope with a fine free-kick, and that was furthered in injury time when Charalampos Kostoulas headed home his first goal for the club.
Yet Brighton could not complete the comeback, and Mbeumo made sure of the points with an emphatic finish in the final minute of stoppage time.
Cunha and Casemiro give Manchester United control
While Brighton offered a threat going forward, they looked shaky at the back right from the start as Bruno Fernandes headed wide from an Mbeumo cross.
But little blame could be laid at the feet of the Brighton backline as Cunha ended his wait for United goal in fine style, finding the net with a fierce low drive that left Bart Verbruggen with no chance.
Ten minutes Brighton were given a mountain to climb, with Georginio Rutter at fault as he was dispossessed by Luke Shaw, who teed up Casemiro to double the United lead with a shot that took a heavy deflection of Yasin Ayari.
Sesko blazed over a chance to make it 3-0 before Rutter mis-kicked with the goal at his mercy right on half-time, and Mbeumo punished Brighton for that miss in the second half.
Mbeumo makes it safe after Brighton fightback
Fenandes was denied by Verbruggen as United picked up where they left off, with the points seemingly secured just after the hour mark when Mbeumo whipped finish through the legs of a Brighton defender and into the bottom-right corner.
Mbeumo then drew a smart stop from Verbruggen, who turned his effort from the edge of the area around the post, but Welbeck extinguished any notion of the game being over, curling home a free-kick awarded after Yankuba Minteh was ruled to have been fouled by Patrick Dorgu.
Brighton grew further into the game after that goal, Tom Watson and Ferdi Kadioglu forcing Senne Lammens into saves, and Kostoulas frayed the Old Trafford nerves by heading home in the second minute of seven added on.
Yet Mbeumo ensured there would be no remarkable fightback, latching onto Diogo Dalot’s throughball and slamming in off the crossbar.
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