Michmutters

ERIK TEN HAG admits he has a ‘hell of a job’ on his hands after Manchester United slumped to an opening day defeat.

Skipper Harry Maguire blasted a ‘nightmare start’ as Pascal Gross struck twice to give Brighton a first win at Old Trafford in 113 years.

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New boss Ten Hag pointed to costly individual errors and warned fans the team’s problems cannot be turned around quickly.

The Red Devils were booed off at the interval while there were more jeers at the end despite an improved second half.

Ten Hag said: “It is a hell of a job.

“It’s definitely a set-back. It’s a real disappointment and we have to deal with it.

“I am not satisfied, totally, because we lose and it’s not necessary. We should have done things better.

“We gave two easy balls away and the organization was a big mistake. We made it clear how to deal with situations. It was unnecessary.

“We have to take the lessons and learn quickly from it. We don’t have time and we have to deliver.”

Ten Hag defended his decision not to start with Cristiano Ronaldo, who declared himself ready to start on the eve of the game.

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The former Ajax boss picked debutant Christian Eriksen to lead the line — with Anthony Martial injured.

United improved after Ronaldo was introduced in the 52nd minute and they pulled one back through an Alexis MacAllister own goal.

The United boss said: “Cristiano is now maybe ten days in team training and too short for 90 minutes. You can’t force it.”

Maguire and new centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez had a difficult afternoon against former United man Danny Welbeck.

Maguire said: “It was a nightmare start to be 2-0 down at half-time.

“It’s the worst possible start. It was not good enough.

“It’s definitely a set-back. It’s a real disappointment and we have to deal with it.”

Erik ten Hag

“We huffed and puffed and got one back — but it’s a bad start.

“The first goal knocked us back really badly. They got a lot of control.”

United fans protested outside the stadium before kick-off with a huge banner which read: “Fight greed, fight for United, fight Glazer.”

And frustrations spilled into the stands with a fight breaking out between United fans during the game.

Former United captain Roy Keane said: “There were more protests — big problems at the club.

“It’s a really bad start. Ten Hag needs time and money. There are huge issues upstairs.”

Club icon Gary Neville added: “It was unacceptable to hand Ten Hag that squad for the start to the season. The reality has hit home.

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“The time has come for the Glazer family to sell the football club.

“Manchester United are the easiest team to play against in the league. For that first goal, Fred and Scott McTominay are chasing back.

“How are they in that position? I was in absolute disbelief. They are ripped through like a knife through butter.”

United legend Paul Scholes blasted: “McTominay running with the ball in attack when he’s got Jadon Sancho, and Marcus Rashford ahead of him is criminal.”

Seagulls boss Graham Potter followed up the 4-0 win over United at the Amex in May by clinching this historic victory at Old Trafford.

He hailed Welbeck who was a doubt for the game with a stomach bug.

Potter said: “He would have strapped the toilet on to his backside to play, it would have slowed him down though. He was amazing.”

Scott Dixon has beaten Scott McLaughlin to victory by a tenth of a second in a chaotic Nashville IndyCar race.

Dixon had qualified 14th and his #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was involved in a shunt on Lap 26 when the pack checked up upon the second restart.

He dropped to 20th when he took service as a result of that collision, but filtered back to the front when Josef Newgarden had to pit from the lead under the sixth Caution period.

McLaughlin led initially from pole before being hurt by the timing of the first full course yellow flag period, but the speed of the #3 Team Penske Chevrolet still gave him a fighting chance of victory.

He was left just a lap-and-a-bit to try and pass his fellow New Zealander after an eighth Caution was upgraded to a red flag period, but came up 0.1067s shy in the end.

Alex Palou finished third in a wounded #10 Ganassi Honda while Newgarden was sixth in the #2 Penske entry, Will Power 11th in the #12 Penske car after battling electronics problems, and Marcus Ericsson not running at the finish in the #8 Ganassi machine due to a technical issue of his own.

In the series points, Power has clung on to the lead but it is now Dixon up to a second at just six points behind.

The initial green flag came more than 90 minutes late due to a thunderstorm, with the track declared dry despite significant damp patches.

McLaughlin got out to a one-second lead after just two laps, from Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport), Palou, Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), Pato O’Ward (McLaren SP), and David Malukas (Dale Coyne Racing w / HMD Motorsports), all of whom started on alternates, with Newgarden best of those on primaries in seventh after briefly holding sixth.

McLaughlin was 1.5s to the good when a Caution was called on Lap 8 after Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport), who had not long pitted, locked the rears and had his #27 Honda stall at Turn 10.

None of the front-runners opted to pit by the time the race resumed on Lap 11, in the new restart zone, at which point O’Ward went under Lundgaard and Malukas was freight-trained back to ninth by Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud (Meyer Shank Racing, green tires), and Power (blacks).

Lundgaard reclaimed fourth from O’Ward on Lap 13 and Newgarden also passed the #5 Chevrolet on Lap 18, before they closed up on Palou.

The Spaniard was clearly struggling for pace when he pitted on Lap 21 to swap to Blacks, and the timing proved fortuitous.

A Caution came on Lap 22 when Helio Castroneves (MSR) spun on his own at Turn 3, not only wiping out McLaughlin’s 2.5s lead but also scrambling the order when anyone who had not already pitted opted to peel off.

Palou assumed the lead from an off-sequence Jimmie Johnson (Ganassi), Pagenaud, Kyle Kirkwood (AJ Foyt Racing), Malukas, McLaughlin, and Grosjean on blacks, then Power in eighth on greens.

Restart 2 came on Lap 25 but there was carnage next time around, when the pack concertinaed at Turn 7.

Graham Rahal (RLLR) shunted O’Ward at the back end of the top 10, and several more cars hit nose-to-tail when they checked up back at Turn 6, including Dixon.

Palou led from Pagenaud, Malukas, and McLaughlin, the latter three of whom had quickly cleared Car #48.

Power, who got hit by O’Ward in the concertina, retained eighth but was in emergency mode with limited electronic functionality, while Ericsson (blacks) sat 13th and Newgarden (greens) 14th.

Dixon got back to the pits and resumed in 20th after the #9 crew eventually got a bent left-rear wheel and its flat tire off the car.

Restart 3 occurred on Lap 33 and Caution 4 began on Lap 34.

The cause of that disruption was Devlin DeFrancesco (Andretti) and Takuma Sato (DCR w/ Rick Ware Racing) ending up in the wall together at Turn 10.

By then, Kirkwood and Grosjean had cleared Johnson and hence were fifth and sixth, while Newgarden used the yellow flag to pit for barely scuffed backs and rejoined in 17th, ahead of the Lap 41 restart.

McLaughlin wasted little time in putting a forceful move on Malukas at Turn 11, then divebombed Pagenaud for a second spot on Lap 42, at which point Palou was about two seconds up.

Pagenaud continued to cede positions, reportedly due to a differential issue, while Power was on the slide out of the top 10.

However, he had a stroke of luck when a VeeKay off prompted him to pit on Lap 50 in case of a Caution.

It did not come then, but one did just two laps later when Rahal, who had been sent back out, understeered into the wall at Turn 4.

VeeKay, coincidentally enough, shunted the #15 Honda but Power just missed both of them.

The big winner was Newgarden, who vaulted to the front when the pits opened thanks to his stop under the previous Caution.

Dixon was second having pitted a lap before Lundgaard and Power, who assumed third and fourth, followed by Jack Harvey (RLLR), then Palou, Malukas, and Herta, who was fighting back after needing a new front wing due to a collision with Dalton Kellett (AJ Foyt) on just Lap 3.

Grosjean was ninth, Kirkwood 10th, Felix Rosenqvist (McLaren SP) 11th but first on greens, Ericsson 12th, and McLaughlin all the way back in 15th after a slow stop.

On the Lap 56 restart, Kirkwood lunged past Herta and Harvey at Turn 11, causing the field to bunch up, and McLaughlin managed to thread his way through to 10th.

Again, Power was seriously struggling for pace.

Within four laps of the restart, Newgarden was more than a second up from Dixon, Lundgaard, Palou, and Herta, who had just passed Malukas on the run to Turn 9.

McLaughlin soon also passed Power, with any idea of ​​protecting his title-contending team-mate by playing rear gunner presumably futile, and was sixth when he got by Malukas on Lap 63.

A lap later, Malukas was in the tire wall at Turn 9, with the #14 Chevrolet lodged underneath his #18 Honda, after Kirkwood had gone for a move.

That represented the sixth Caution but Penske decided that Newgarden was not going to get home on fuel and called Car #2 in when the pits opened, costing him the live series lead.

Remarkably, Dixon thus led, from Lundgaard, and Palou, whose front wing was looking second-hand after he had touched Power in making the earlier pass.

Herta was fourth, then McLaughlin, Grosjean, Ericsson, Rossi, Power, and Rosenqvist, with Newgarden last on the lead lap in 14th on more scuffed backs.

Upon the Lap 70 restart, McLaughlin was straight down the inside of Herta at Turn 9, then got through on Palou for a third spot at Turn 11.

Newgarden was already back up to ninth on Lap 71 when he went down the inside of Power at Turn 4.

Johnson triggered a seventh Caution on Lap 73 when he had a fast lose at Turn 4 and smashed into the wall.

Behind Dixon, Lundgaard, and McLaughlin was Palou, from Grosjean, Herta, Rossi, Newgarden, Harvey on greens, Pagenaud, and Power in 11th, while Ericsson had slipped to 13th after an apparent technical glitch.

Restart 7 came on Lap 76 and McLaughlin lunged past Lundgaard to nick second spot at Turn 9.

That was tame, however, compared to Newgarden trying to pass Rossi, Herta, and Grosjean in one move just behind, and the #2 Penske car hip-checked the latter’s #28 Andretti entry into the concrete wall.

Caution 8 quickly became a red flag period, and most cars returned to pit lane but Ericsson’s had stopped on-track.

After a 10-minute stoppage, Dixon led McLaughlin, Lundgaard, Palou, Rossi, Herta, Newgarden, Pagenaud, Rosenqvist (greens), Harvey (greens), and Power back out onto the circuit.

It was that Race Control advised ‘no further action’ regarding the Newgarden-Grosjean incident.

McLaughlin pressured Dixon when the green came on Lap 79 but just missed out on victory in the lap-and-a-bit which remained.

Palou, however, got Lundgaard straight away at Turn 9, which caused Car #30 to also be passed by Rossi and Herta, who would complete the top five.

Newgarden got up to km in the end, ahead of Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, Harvey, Pagenaud, and Power in 11th.

Simona De Silvestro (Paretta Autosport) was classified last in the 26-car field after she was caught up in the early concertina.

Next up is the final oval event of the season, at Gateway Motorsports Park, on August 19-20 (local time).

Every IndyCar race is streamed live and ad-free on Stan Sport.

Results: Race, Nashville

pos	number	drivers	C/E/T	Racetime/Split	pit stops	Status	grid position
1	9	Scott Dixon	D/H/F	2:06:24.2439	6	Running	14
two	3	Scott McLaughlin	D/C/F	+0.1067	two	Running	1
3	10	alex palou	D/H/F	+0.6100	two	Running	4
4	27	alexander rossi	D/H/F	+0.9412	4	Running	17
5	26	Colton Hertha	D/H/F	+1.3942	3	Running	23
6	two	Joseph Newgarden	D/C/F	+2.1828	3	Running	6
7	7	Felix Rosenqvist	D/C/F	+2.8426	3	Running	fifteen
8	30	Christian Lundgaard	D/H/F	+3.2724	two	Running	3
9	60	Simon Pagenaud	D/H/F	+4.4000	two	Running	13
10	Four. Five	Jack Harvey	D/H/F	+5.1560	4	Running	eleven
eleven	12	Will Power	D/C/F	+6.7843	two	Running	8
12	twenty-one	Rinus VeeKay	D/C/F	+1 lap	4	Running	10
13	06	Helio Castroneves	D/H/F	+1 lap	8	Running	26
14	8	Marcus Ericson	D/H/F	+4 laps	3	mechanical	18
fifteen	77	callum ilott	D/C/F	+4 laps	6	Running	19
16	28	Romain Grosjean	D/H/F	+5 laps	two	Contact	two
17	twenty	conor daly	D/C/F	+6 laps	3	Running	22
18	48	Jimmie Johnson	D/H/F	+8 laps	3	Contact	25
19	14	Kyle Kirkwood	D/C/F	+17 laps	two	Contact	16
twenty	18	David Malukas	D/H/F	+17 laps	two	Contact	7
twenty-one	51	takuma sato	D/H/F	+48 laps	1	Contact	twenty
22	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	D/H/F	+48 laps	two	Contact	24
23	fifteen	Graham Rahl	D/H/F	+51 laps	1	Contact	9
24	5	Duck O’Ward	D/C/F	+55 laps	1	Contact	5
25	4	Dalton Kellett	D/C/F	+55 laps	1	Contact	12
26	16	Simona Silvestro	D/C/F	+55 laps	1	Contact	twenty-one

Race winner: 80 laps

series points

pos	drivers	pts
1	Will Power	450
two	Scott Dixon	444
3	Marcus Ericson	438
4	Joseph Newgarden	428
5	alex palou	417
6	Scott McLaughlin	392
7	Duck O’Ward	391
8	alexander rossi	330
9	Felix Rosenqvist	325
10	Colton Hertha	315
eleven	Rinus VeeKay	300
12	Simon Pagenaud	284
13	Graham Rahl	281
14	Romain Grosjean	273
fifteen	Christian Lundgaard	272
16	conor daly	249
17	David Malukas	231
18	Helio Castroneves	224
19	takuma sato	208
twenty	callum ilott	181
twenty-one	Jimmie Johnson	178
22	Jack Harvey	178
23	Devlin DeFrancesco	159
24	Kyle Kirkwood	144
25	Dalton Kellett	108
26	Tony Canaan	78
27	Santino Ferucci	71
28	Ed Carpenter	67
29	Tatiana Calderón	58
30	JR Hildebrand	53
31	John Paul Montoya	44
32	Simona Silvestro	26
33	Marco Andretti	17
3. 4	sage karam	14
35	Stefan Wilson	10