Man Utd 2-1 Brentford: Huge win for united
Man Utd 2-1 Brentford: Huge win for united. Under pressure Erik ten Hag and his Manchester United side put on a sensational show at Old Trafford today, as they staged a come back, securing a much needed 2-1 win over Brentford.
The Red Devils got off to a slow start and fell behind to Ethan Pinnock‘s header late in the first half, but United made some tactical tweaks at the break and produced perhaps their finest 45 minutes of football this season after the break.
Alejandro Garnacho equalised almost immediately, before Rasmus Hojlund chipped home a deserved winner.
How the game unfolded;
Brentford nearly made their typically fast start and could have easily found themselves 1-0 ahead inside the opening few minutes. Kevin Schade came agonisingly close to tapping home a fierce cross, but could not find the extra inches needed to stretch and make contact.
Mikkel Damsgaard should have done better with a volley from the edge of the penalty area as Brentford tried to make their early dominance in possession count.
Against the run of play, Mark Flekken nearly gifted United the opener. The Brentford stopper claimed a tame header but managed to drop the ball right at the feet of Hojlund, needing to fling himself at the loose ball to stop it crossing the line.
Garnacho stung Flekken’s gloves midway through the first half as United grew into the game, while down the other end, Andre Onana had to make an excellent save to deny Christian Norgaard from range.
United definitely took control of proceedings as the clock ticked on, but with almost the final kick of the first half, Brentford took the lead. Matthijs de Ligt had to leave the field to address a nasty head wound, and United’s ten men failed to stop Pinnock from heading home from a corner deep in added time.
It took just 90 seconds for United to tie things up after the restart. Marcus Rashford’s excellent cross found Garnacho at the back post, and the Argentina international rifled home with real class.
Flekken got down well to deny both Garnacho and Casemiro from range soon after, but United’s growing momentum could not be stopped and Hojlund dinked a delightful chip over Flekken shortly after the hour mark.
Diogo Dalot, of all people, found himself played through on goal but could not find a way beyond Flekken, but it mattered little as United retained control of proceedings all the way up to the final whistle.
