United goalkeeper de Gea added: “It is great always when you have the three points especially after we draw the last few games. We are all very happy.

“We knew that Brighton is one of the teams that play very well with the ball, press very good and for me it is a very good team. We started the second half better, we scored the goal, they went a man down but a big three points and the performance was there.”

On his save to deny Moder in the first half, de Gea said: “It great to be honest, a very difficult one. In that moment it was a big save because we kept a clean sheet. This is what we want in this moment, [to] keep compact defensively. It was a great save to be honest.

“The message (at half-time) was that we are playing at home and we pressed high in the second half. We controlled the game after the red card and there was a five minute spell when they came back.”

“We should be fighting for more things than the top four, but that is the reality. There are many teams fighting for the same position and with the quality we have we should win a lot of points.”