Harry Maguire accepted that it was "not good enough" for Manchester United to find themselves 2-0 down at half-time following Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Brighton in their Premier League opener at Old Trafford.
After making a reasonably encouraging start to the contest, United fell a goal behind on the half-hour mark, with old nemesis Pascal Gross tapping home from close quarters after connecting with Danny Welbeck's low cross. United barely had any time to reset themselves before Gross added a second, doubling the Seagulls' lead nine minutes later.
It meant that United faced an uphill struggle before they had even reached half-time. They did pull a goal back midway through the second half, benefiting from an Alexis Mac Allister's own-goal, but it was not enough for Erik ten Hag to avoid a defeat in his first game in charge.
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For Maguire, who started at centre-back alongside summer signing Lisandro Martinez, the result was unacceptable, highlighting how he and his teammates must improve moving forward. He lamented their failure to retain control, insisting they must do better when in possession of the ball.
"Well, I think we actually started the game pretty well. We started on the front foot," Maguire told Sky Sports. "We were the team who had control of the game and we conceded the first goal, which knocked us back really badly.
"We stopped playing from then. They got a lot of control in the game, so we need to look at not letting that first goal set us back as much as it did.
"But we have got to be better on the ball - we gave the ball away too much in the first half, especially after the first goal and we gave them encouragement to come forward and attack us. It was a nightmare start to be 2-0 down at half-time."
The captain added: "The result is disappointing. It was the worst possible start at half-time to be 2-0 down at Old Trafford. It's not good enough. We huffed and puffed and we got one back. We had chances to equalise but it's a bad start for us."
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