Man Utd 2 Brentford 1
The Red Devils welcomed Brentford to Old Trafford, a ground they had not won at since 1937 but with United’s form this season it seemed a perfect opportunity to change that record. As ever, the ground was littered with banners telling the owners to sell the club.
The Bees started on the front foot, knocking it around with one-touch passing, resulting in an early corner. The ball came out to the edge of the box with Janelt looking to bend a left footed shot into the top corner, Onana was left scrambling as it went narrowly over.
Casemiro then gave the ball away and the visitors came streaming forward and while they could not find that killer pass, Man Utd’s defence was like watching a kid’s football match as they struggled to get the ball out. It eventually broke in the box to Jensen whose side-footed effort should have led to a routine save but that’s not how Andre Onana does things.
Inter Milan got to the Champions League final last season and it is mind-bending to absorb that information as Onana has looked a liability since his arrival at Old Trafford. All fans can do is try to convince themselves that he is just taking time to settle in, however, his weak wristed attempt at a save on this occasion saw the ball trickle into the back of the net.
Credit: @BrentfordFC
Rashford then almost managed to stumble his way through the Brentford defence but his near post shot was saved by Strakosha to keep the hosts out. It was not a challenging effort and one you would expect any goalkeeper to save.
Casemiro was substituted at half-time as the manager looked to put the Brazilian out of his misery and it was his replacement, Christian Eriksen, who brought the first save out of Strakosha after the interval. The Bees’ keeper made it look difficult as he fumbled the ball back into the middle of the goal but Brentford’s defence were able to help him out and clear their lines.
Bruno Fernandes reminded people that he was still on the pitch when he tried his luck from distance but it was easily saved by the visitors’ keeper. Considering he is the captain of Man Utd, when the chips are down you could be forgiven for thinking that the Portuguese midfielder had joined Anonymous such was his participation in the game.
The ball broke just inside the box at a wide angle to Garnacho who hit a first-time shot which whistled over the crossbar. Man Utd were starting to give their fans something to get out of their seats for finally.
Maupay seized on a poor clearance from Evans and had a shot from some twenty-five yards out but it was tipped over the crossbar by Onana. The resulting corner led to a header from Norgaard which was just heading under the bar but the United keeper did enough to keep it out.
Brentford gave away a free kick late in the game and Fernandes took it upon himself to shoot, barely testing the keeper but as they failed to clear the ball, danger loomed. As it was worked back into the box, Martial helped it on before it struck a Brentford defender and ended up in the back of the net.
Credit: @ManUtd
The assistant immediately raised his flag and while VAR checked it, replays showed that Martial was in an offside position when he flicked the ball on, so the goal was rightly ruled out. This should have been the warning that Brentford needed to clear their lines more effectively.
Six minutes of added time were signalled and in the 93rd minute, Brentford were guilty of not clearing their lines once again after some questionable goalkeeping, it broke to McTominay who struck the ball into the bottom corner.
The Bees were the architects of their own downfall as a free kick was lofted into the box, another poor piece of goalkeeping from Strakosha kept the pressure on the visitors and McTominay headed the ball towards goal with the keeper only able to tip it onto the inside of the post and in.
Erik ten Hag celebrated like they had just won the title but in truth he may have just been celebrating being in a job for Christmas as the pressure was piling on the Dutch manager. Man Utd got the three points and the result will paper over the cracks at Old Trafford.
While ten Hag continues to seem to like ordering Pep Guardiola from Wish and Andre Onana to be some sort of comedy keeper, sent by Man City to make a mockery of their neighbours, obviously the Glazers are still to blame.
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