Luke Shaw admits he made ‘silly mistake’ to hand Brighton victory but is left fuming at Man Utd’s biggest problem

LUKE SHAW admitted to making a “silly mistake” at the end of Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat at Brighton last night.

But the full-back was left fuming at a bigger problem for the Red Devils.

Luke Shaw handled late on to gift Brighton a penaltyRex

Having spurned numerous chances at the other end, United found themselves having to defend late on.

As a late cross was swung in, Shaw handled – with a spot kick being awarded following a VAR check.

Alexis Mac Allister subsequently scored to consign the Red Devils to a 1-0 defeat.

Shaw fronted up after the match, telling Sky Sports: “It hurts a lot, last minute, last action.

“I got a little nudge but my hand shouldn’t be there and I own up to it.

“Take it on the chin, cost us the game, it’s tough I can’t even explain why my hand’s up there, I got a nudge, maybe that helps but still it shouldn’t be there.

“Even before the corner the free-kick that was given away was never a foul. I’m not looking for excuses for what I did but there’s no way that should have been given a foul.

“For me that corner shouldn’t have happened, I can’t change that, not accusing the ref of anything but for me it wasn’t a foul but hands up, silly mistake. But it cost us a point at the end.”

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Sky SportsShaw, 27, fronted up after the game[/caption]

With United having been wasteful in front of goal, Shaw lamented his side’s lack of clinical edge, which left them vulnerable to a late sucker punch.

He added: “The chances that we have, we have to be scoring these goals.

“The game’s completely different if we score with the chances that we make.

“Maybe we’re not clinical enough, I don’t really know what else to say to that, obviously said about that but what I did is totally the opposite and it’s disappointing and I lost us a point in the end.

“But maybe in the first half we could have been 3-0 up.”

Addressing the top four race, Shaw continued: “It changes nothing, it’s still in our hands.

“We have to kick ourselves from the position we are in, it’s very comfortable but now you could say there’s a real chase.

“Teams around us picking up points but we have one game in hand, it’s in our hands.”

Despite their defeat United remain fourth, four points above fifth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand.

Brighton’s win moved them to within eight points of the Red Devils with a game in hand – but a grip on Champions League qualification remains firmly in United’s hands.

Erik ten Hag’s men are back in action this weekend, when they take on West Ham on Sunday evening.

GettyThe Red Devils were wasteful in front of goal[/caption]