Manchester United should be fighting for more than a top-four place in the Premier League, goalkeeper David De Gea said after his team beat Brighton 2-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

An unconvincing display was illuminated by a majestic Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the first half before Bruno Fernandes finished off 10-man Brighton with a stoppage-time second.

Victory, after successive draws, lifted United above West Ham into fourth place in the table with 43 points from 25 games, although sixth-placed Arsenal are four points behind with three games in hand.

“It is great always when you have the three points, especially after we draw the last few games. We are all very happy,” said De Gea, who made a stunning save to stop Brighton taking the lead in the first half.

“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.”

Interim manager Ralf Rangnick said the win had been important, even if he was again frustrated that his side could not sustain a 90-minute performance.

“This was a very important win and even so after the first half today; today for a change we had a better second half than the first half and in the second half it paid off, we were more aggressive, we were primed to intercept and attack them in higher positions, so a highly important win for us,” he said.

“It was different from the last three games because we were Dr Jekyll in the first half and this time in the second half.”

Ronaldo, without a goal since December and dropped to the bench by Rangnick in some recent matches, answered his critics five minutes after half-time with a superb finish after being played in by Scott McTominay.

“An amazing goal,” Rangnick said. “Not only an important one but an amazing goal and I think overall it was a good performance by Cristiano.

Energetically, he was always trying to help team mates and I think in the last weeks definitely the best performance by him and a very, very important goal for us.”

Brighton had been the better side before half-time with United again looking disjointed and lacking spark. United were unconvincing and Brighton’s Jakub Moder curled an effort against the crossbar before former United striker Danny Welbeck headed over a late chance.

But for a sensational save by De Gea to deny Moder’s header, the boos at halftime would have been louder.