Man Utd subjected to weird swipe from Zenit after Brighton thrashing

Zenit St Petersburg aimed a surprise dig at Manchester United following their Russian title triumph.

They claimed a fourth straight league success after beating Khimki 1-0 on Saturday. It means their 12 point lead at the top of the table in unassailable, Meanwhile in England the Red Devils produced a horror display as they were beaten 4-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion.

Their miserable season means their trophy drought will extend to five years - their last success coming in the Europa League back in 2017 when Jose Mourinho was in charge. Zenit put out a picture on Twitter with Danil Krugovoy holding their latest piece of silverware with the caption: "Hey @ManUtd fans, this is what a trophy looks like!"

Zenit have only lost two of their 28 league games this term as their domestic dominance continues. United however have found life tough in the Premier League, especially in recent weeks. They were humbled by the Seagulls on Saturday evening - their fourth loss in seven games and will register their worst ever showing in the Premier League-era.

Brighton scored three times in the second-half as the Red Devils capitulated on the south coast. Interim boss Ralf Rangnick has just one game left at the helm and has now seen his side ship at least three goals in their last three losses. He had few positives to say after the Amex Stadium reverse.

The German said: "Yes it was [a poor performance]. From the first to the last minute this was not enough and in all-important areas we were second best. To start with we can only apologise to our supporters, it was a terrible performance and a humiliating defeat.

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"It was a completely different game and today from the first minute we allowed them too much time, too much space and we were never able to be in a position to stop them playing through our lines. The game plan was completely different, we told the players to be as compact as we could possibly be but we couldn't stop them."

United's final outing is an away trip to Crystal Palace. They sit in sixth place, which would see them qualify for the Europa League, but can be usurped by West Ham should they win their game in hand. That could see the Manchester outfit end up in the Europa Conference League.

Playmaker Bruno Fernandes confessed that their low points this season have been far to damaging. He said: "The whole season has been like this, ups and downs, the downs have been too down, and we have one game left. We have to win that game and that's everything we can do."