Manchester United was indebted to a very lucky winning goal, credited as Lewis Dunk's own goal, by beating Brighton 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The lucky streak came in the 66th minute when Ashley Young's shot from the edge of the area came out of Dunk's boot, which made the evil Mathew Ryan in the upper right corner.
United could have taken the maximum points, but it was a rather uninspiring performance against a spirited team from Brighton, which were difficult to break.
The victory maintains its 100% home record in the Premier League this season and places them five points behind Manchester City at the top.
Brighton arrived at Old Trafford unbeaten in his five previous league matches and started with confidence, Anthony Knockaert showed flashes of magic on the right without finding the killer's final ball.
United's accumulated play lacked rhythm as Romelu Lukaku was made to feed the waste played in the box.
He reached a quality piece by Marcus Rashford just before the break, but the Belgian and Paul Pogba were rejected by a fantastic double save from Ryan.
The second half continued on the same subject, with Brighton holding firm and restricting United to shots from range.
José Mourinho called Zlatan Ibrahimovic midway through the match and the extra body that was in front began to stop the visitors. The goal came four minutes after the forward's presentation, but it was more luckily than trial.
A corner, which controversially was given to United, was clarified to Young, who made an effort with his left foot that went off the goal before taking a wrong detour from Dunk and fly to the opposite corner. Ryan had no chance.
United have only conceded once at home in the Premier League this season and rarely seemed to be in danger of losing their lead once in the front. Shane Duffy led a mid-range opportunity for Brighton, while Ibrahimovic was close to opening his account for the season after a good connection with Lukaku.
Man of the match: Ashley Young
A difficult choice without really outstanding players, but Young's attack game on the left bothered Brighton at all times. Clearly in a confident mood, the side's decision to shoot inevitably leads to United's first goal. Surely he and Dunk will press for Young to be credited with the goal, which would be the first since May 2016.
Pundit reaction: Paul Merson"United found a way and fair play for them, and the Brighton players who go back to that coach will think 'how did not we get some of this?' They just did not have luck, so many times the ball streaked through the box and nobody was there to get to the end, they took the game to United.
"Ibrahimovic comes in and United is a different team, the Brighton players just showed him a little more respect, if United wants to win the Premier League, they need seven points from the three big games that come close to Watford and Arsenal, and home to Man City.] From what I've seen today, I'd be surprised if United won one, even against Watford. "