Cristiano Ronaldo had relieved some of the anxiety with a superb strike after 51 minutes to go 1-0 ahead and, 60 seconds later, the Seagulls were down to 10 men when their captain Lewis Dunk was sent off.
United still had to endure some tense moments, including a worryingly close chance for Brighton’s sub ex-Red Danny Welbeck, before Bruno Fernandes finally killed off Graham Potter’s side to make it 2-0 and fire the Reds back into the top four in the Premier League.
De Gea says it was torment from his viewpoint in the goal.
“I was there saying ‘come on, we have to kill the game,’ because, in the Premier League, you never know.