BRIGHTON: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho took aim at his players for not having the required desire in a 1-0 defeat to Brighton on Friday that secured the Seagulls’ place in the Premier League next season.
Just over two weeks ahead of the FA Cup final against his old club Chelsea, United boss Mourinho made six changes and was punished as Pascal Gross’s second-half header secured Brighton’s first win over the Red Devils since 1982.
“Today I think was a clear difference in the desire to fight for the targets,” said Mourinho, whose side missed the chance to all but secure second place in the Premier League behind champions Manchester City.
“They clearly showed that, for them, it’s more important for them to stay in the Premier League than for us to finish second. They showed it from the first minute, and we didn’t show that.
“I am disappointed because second is important for me. I’m not sure every one of my players is disappointed.”
And Mourinho was scathing about some of his fringe players.
Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial started in a front three following injuries to top scorer Romelu Lukaku and January signing Alexis Sanchez.
“For 10 months I get asked ‘why always Lukaku? Why always Lukaku? Why always this player?’” Mourinho said.
“’That guy doesn’t have a chance to start, the other one is on the bench’. You know why now.
“I know my players better than you, and probably you don’t know them so well to be always with these questions.”
Chants of “We are staying up” rang around a packed house at the Amex Stadium at full-time as victory moved Brighton up to 11th and more importantly eight points clear of the bottom three.
With third-bottom Southampton and 17th-placed Swansea to meet on Tuesday, Brighton now cannot now be relegated.
“I felt that we’ve deserved to stay in this league for our season’s work,” said Brighton boss Chris Hughton.
“But if we’d lost today and the next two, it would have been a real feeling of injustice had we gone down. So relief that we’ve done it now, but I’m also really proud of a group of players.”
The visitors did have the ball in the net after just four minutes when Marouane Fellaini turned Rashford’s free-kick in from close range, but the Belgian was rightly flagged for offside.
United secured a top-four finish by beating Arsenal 2-1 last weekend, and Brighton’s more desperate need for the points shone through.
David de Gea was the only United player selected in the PFA’s Premier League team of the year and the Spaniard showed why he has again been his side’s outstanding performer this season with a stunning fingertip save to turn a dipping volley from Glenn Murray behind.
Brighton’s survival party had been put on hold by a run of seven games without a win.
But they got the helping hand they needed from the goal-line technology system to seal another campaign in the Premier League on their return to the top flight after 34 years on 57 minutes.
The dangerous Jose Izquierdo got to the byline and when his cross was parried by De Gea, the ball crossed the line from Gross’s header by the finest of margins before being hooked clear by Marcos Rojo.
City can now break United’s record winning margin of 18 points from the 1999/2000 season should they win their remaining three games.
Matt Ryan saved well from Rashford before Martial and Jesse Lingard fired off target as Brighton held out despite a late United rally.
Beaten Manchester United lacked desire at Brighton: Jose Mourinho
Beaten Manchester United lacked desire at Brighton: Jose Mourinho
- United boss Mourinho made six changes for the game with one eye on the FA Cup final
- 1-0 win for Brighton secured Seagulls’ place in the Premier League next season
Young future stars of Saudi golf enjoy a moment alongside the big names at LIV Golf Riyadh
- Participants in ROSHN Rising Stars program to develop golfing talent in the Kingdom play friendly competition at Riyadh Golf Club before round 3 of the season opener tees off
- ‘Golf is such a fundamental sport for development … The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity,’ says LIV Golf’s Jake Jones
RIYADH: While much of the spotlight during LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh this week has of course been on the return of some of the sport’s biggest names for the new campaign, a new generation of Saudi golfers is also quietly taking its own first steps into the game.
Participants in the ROSHN Rising Stars program, an initiative designed to introduce and develop young golfing talent across the Kingdom, gathered at Riyadh Golf Club on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition a few hours before the third round of the main event teed off under the lights.
“The real focus is getting golf into the lives of young people in the Kingdom,” Jake Jones, LIV Golf’s senior vice president of impact and sustainability told Arab News as the young golfers took to the course under cloudy skies.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different, something sustained, with a long-term outcome, and that’s how this program was created.”
The program runs for 20 weeks, during which the participants receive weekly coaching and instruction sessions at Riyadh Golf Club from Golf Saudi professionals.
“This takes them from never having held a golf club before to reaching a point where they’ve now played in a competition,” Jones said.
The fact that the LIV Golf season opens in Riyadh provides another key benefit for the participants, as they get to experience the professional game up close, and this access to world-class players and events forms a key part of their journey.
“We give them exposure to our LIV Golf events, here and internationally,” Jones added.
Beyond this, and teaching people how to play the game, the program offers participants insights into the wider aspects of the world of golf, including career opportunities.
“They’ve had behind-the-scenes tours, pitch-and-putt sessions, long-drive competitions and visits to places like the media center,” Jones said. “It’s about showing them what it’s like not just to play golf, but work in the sport as well.”
Friday’s event in Riyadh marked the conclusion of the 20-week program for its participants.
“Today is really the celebration point,” Jones said. “We’re at the graduation phase of this journey, where they’ll compete in a three-hole challenge. We then crown a winner and celebrate with them back at the ROSHN Fan Village.”
As golf continues to grow in popularity in the region, Jones believes initiatives such as Rising Stars will have a lasting effect on the development of next generation of players.
“Golf is such a fundamental sport for development; it’s not just about physical activity and having fun,” he said. “The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity.
“Imagine playing golf and you miss the ball or you end up in the sand; you have to get back up and try again. You block the noise around you and focus on the ball to make the right shot.”
Jones highlighted in particular the importance of integrity as one of golf’s defining characteristics, and how that can help shape personal development.
“The rules of golf are reliant on you following them,” he said. “That sense of honesty and self-discipline is something young players can carry beyond the course” into the roles they play in their communities, societies and countries.
“The role that golf can have with young people in Saudi Arabia is actually another layer of baking in those core societal skills, to ensure that they are fit and robust for the future,” Jones added.
This is particularly important given the youthful nature of the Saudi population, more than half of which is under the age of 30, he said, and they now have the chance to benefit from golf in one way or another.
“Golf is now another avenue that they can explore. Whether it’s playing, working in the sport or simply finding a community, we want to give them another reason to get excited.
“We believe that golf can do all of that and, hopefully, it can spark a lasting passion among the Saudi youth.”
