Manchester United suffered another early exit in the EFL Cup after squandering a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against Brighton in the third round at Old Trafford.

After Sunday’s contentious 1-0 defeat to 10-man Manchester City left United with just one win from four Premier League games, Michael Carrick’s side responded three days later by racing into a 2-0 lead inside 10 minutes.

However, Charalampos Kostoulas led the turnaround with a goal and a key role in Maxim De Cuyper's winner as United followed up a second-round exit last season to Grimsby Town with more disappointment.

Shea Lacey needed just eight minutes to score his first senior goal for United on his maiden start, receiving from Youri Tielemans on the right of the area before hammering past an unsighted Jason Steele.

Mason Mount doubled United’s lead just two minutes later, bouncing a rebound finish over the stranded Steele after Marcus Rashford was denied, but Brighton were on top from that point on.

Malick Yalcouye whipped wide in response after being played in behind by Pascal Gross, who then thrashed over from close range shortly after.

However, Kostoulas reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time – he coolly converted past Karl Darlow after Jaouen Hadjam’s deep cross caught United’s backline out.

Brighton found a deserved leveller just past the hour when Luka Vuskovic intercepted Diogo Dalot’s pass and headed towards the area for Gross, who finished with ease past Darlow.

The turnaround was complete five minutes later when Kostoulas raced down United’s right and his deflected cut-back fell for substitute De Cuyper to convert from near the six-yard box.

Steele produced an eye-catching stop to deny Rashford after Bruno Fernandes freed the United forward, before De Cuyper volleyed over and Dalot denied Yasin Ayari’s goal-bound effort.

Gross continued to run the show, teeing up Diego Gomez to fire straight at Darlow, but that did not matter as Brighton enjoyed more success on the red side of Manchester.

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— Brighton & Hove Albion (@BHAFC) September 16, 2026

Seagulls soar at Old Trafford again

Carrick insisted United must "move on" in the build-up to this clash, referencing Erling Haaland’s controversial winner for Manchester City on Sunday and the subsequent noise that has followed.

That was in Pro Ref, the governing body previously known as PGMO,  conceded Haaland’s finish should not have stood, and there were no signs of a United hangover early on.

Lacey, who was sent off in last season’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford, and Mount set the tone to seemingly ease any bad memories from last season’s embarrassing defeat on penalties to League Two’s Grimsby.

Big things will be expected from Lacey, too. He became the first teenager to score on their maiden start for United since an 18-year-old Rashford burst onto the scene against Midtjylland in February 2016.

However, Brighton controlled the opening period after Mount’s finish, and the visitors will have felt Kostoulas’ strike was just reward given they accumulated 0.92 expected goals (xG) to United’s 0.3 in the first half.

That trend continued after half-time as Gross and De Cuyper made a slack United pay, but this result should come as no surprise.

Brighton have now won five of their last six away games against United in all competitions (L1), having lost 12 of their first 14 visits prior (D2), while United have lost at Old Trafford from 2+ goals ahead for the first time in over 50 years, since a 3-2 loss to Tottenham in September 1976.

Fabian Hurzeler will feel it was a deserved win, too, having amassed 2.15 xG to 1.04 from the hosts, leaving Carrick with mounting pressure to deal with.