Manchester United had Brighton exactly where they wanted them.
Ten minutes into the contest, they were two goals ahead.
By full-time, Old Trafford was dealing with a 3–2 defeat and another cup campaign was over.
Michael Carrick accepted responsibility after United surrendered a commanding start against Brighton and crashed out of the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday night.
Shea Lacey and Mason Mount struck inside the opening 10 minutes to put United in control, but Brighton refused to disappear.
Charalampos Kostoulas pulled one back before Pascal Gross levelled the contest, setting the stage for Maxim De Cuyper to complete a comeback that turned the atmosphere inside Old Trafford on its head.
Brighton recovered from two goals down to win the tie 3–2 at Old Trafford.
From control to collapse
United could scarcely have asked for a stronger opening.
Lacey gave Carrick’s side the breakthrough before Mount doubled the advantage, leaving Brighton facing a brutal early deficit.
But the visitors found a route back.
Kostoulas cut United’s lead, Gross restored parity and De Cuyper delivered the decisive goal as Brighton completed the turnaround.
For United, the problem was not simply that they lost.
It was how quickly control became vulnerability.
A two-goal cushion disappeared. Momentum shifted. Brighton sensed the opening and took it.
By the end, United were out of the competition.
Carrick carries the responsibility
Carrick did not attempt to distance himself from the defeat afterwards.
United’s manager acknowledged his side had allowed a match they appeared to control to escape them and stressed the need to return quickly to winning football.
That accountability sharpens the pressure around United’s next response.
The Brighton defeat followed the club’s Premier League loss to Manchester City, meaning Carrick now has to lift his team before their next league assignment against Fulham.
One defeat can be absorbed.
Throwing away a two-goal lead at Old Trafford with elimination attached carries a different weight.
Brighton punish United’s failure to finish the job
Brighton’s comeback was built on refusing to treat 2–0 as the end of the contest.
Kostoulas gave them belief.
Gross erased the deficit.
De Cuyper completed the reversal.
For United, those three moments tell the opposite story.
Control became uncertainty. Uncertainty became pressure. Pressure became elimination.
Carrick can now dissect the tactical and individual failures before United return to league action.
What he cannot recover is the cup opportunity his side surrendered.
Manchester United were two goals up.
Brighton walked out of Old Trafford in the next round.
And Carrick has already made clear where the responsibility ultimately lands: with him.
