Jan 19 (Reuters) - MANCHESTER UNITED 2 BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION 1
Manchester United stretched their perfect run under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to seven wins from as many games in all competitions with a 2-1 home defeat of Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
The result provisionally lifted United one place up to fifth on 44 points from 23 games, three more than sixth-placed Arsenal who were playing fourth-placed Chelsea in the 1730 GMT fixture.
United stormed into a two-goal lead through Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford in the first half but faded in the second and served up a nervy finish to their fans after Pascal Gross pulled one back for battling Brighton.
Pogba opened the scoring with a 27th-minute penalty and Rashford made it 2-0 in the 42nd with a superb individual goal, beating his marker with dazzling footwork before hitting the top corner from a tight angle on his 150th appearance for United.
Gross reduced the arrears out of the blue in the 72nd minute, drilling in a close-range shot off the underside of the bar after Davy Propper floated in an inch-perfect cross with the outside of his foot.
United, who missed several chances to increase their lead in the opening hour, were forced to hang on in the closing stages as the visitors pounded a flurry of crosses into the penalty area.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Xxxx)