A second-half turnaround for United eased the strain on under-fire manager Erik Ten Hag at Old Trafford today. Trailing to a goal at the break, goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund flipped it on its head. Only the third win of the season which needs to be improved on going forward.
It was back to earth for the visitors who were praised for recent performances. They struck for the lead on the stroke of half-time but were unable to maintain it for long. They were left chasing shadows for long periods and seldom looked likely to threaten the home backline.
Erik Ten Hag made three changes from the draw against Villa before the international break. Harry Maguire and Kobee Mainoo were both absent through injury whilst Noussair Mazraoui was only fit enough for the bench. In came Matthijs de Ligt, Casemiro, and Jonny Evans. Ethan Wheatley and Jack Fletcher were both on the bench. Brentford were unchanged from scoring five goals against Wolves last time out. Yoane Wissa returned to the match-day squad following an injury.
Brentford managed to score within the first few minutes in their last few games and came close in this one. Jonny Evans got ahead of Kevin Schade to prevent him from connecting with a Vitaly Janelt cross. At the other end, a low cross by Bruno Fernandes failed to find anyone in the box.
Matthijs de Ligt was forced to come off after taking a knee to the head in a challenge with Schade. He continued after treatment despite blood coming from his head.
The closest that Utd came within the first twenty minutes arrived via a corner. Christian Eriksen swung it into the area where it was met by the head of Lisandro Martinez. Mark Flekken parried it though and it almost fell to Rasmus Hoijlund. The keeper was able to respond in time to deny the Dane. Flekken then then pushed an Alejandro Garnacho effort past the post.
Utd should have taken the lead when Eriksen missed a glorious opportunity. Hoijlund did well to hold the ball up and play it into Casemiro. He was being held up by James Collins, but the ball went through to Eriksen. He blasted over when clear on goal. Garnacho then shot wide when he was well-placed. The winger then had a deflected effort pushed away by Flekken after more good play from Hoijlund.
It was the away side that went ahead just on half-time in somewhat controversial fashion. De Ligt had to leave the field as his injury had re-started bleeding to leave Utd defending a set-piece with ten men. A corner was swung over, and Ethan Pinnock peeled off Diogo Dalot to head home unopposed. Players protested, and Ten Hag and Van Nistelrooy were booked, but the goal stood.
Whatever frustration was felt in the dressing was addressed within the first two minutes. After patient build-up, Eriksen passed it out to Marcus Rashford to the right of the area. He swept a cross to the back post where Garnacho met it with a first-time volley past Flekken. The Argentine almost put the home side in front only to be denied by Flekken.
The turnaround was completed just after the hour. Eriksen played it into Fernandes after Jonny Evans had stopped a Brentford attack. The captain produced a delightful flick to free Hoijlund. He evaded the offside trap to dink the ball over Flekken for his first Premier League goal of the season.
Dalot then had an effort saved as the home side kept up the pressure. The keeper also denied Joshua Zirkzee off the bench.
Brentford huffed and puffed as they tried to claim an equaliser. The problem was that they barely had enough of the ball to be able to create anything of note in that period. The best chance they had was when substitute Fabio Carvalho dragged his shot wide from outside the area.
A sense of relief then at the end. Fans will be left wondering why the side couldn’t demonstrate more of the second-half fire and urgency in other games this season. They will hope to get their first win of the Europa League when they travel to Fenerbache before a trip to West Ham on Sunday. Brentford will hope to get back to winning ways as they take on struggling Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Manchester United: Andre Onana; Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Matthjis De Ligt, Jonny Evans (Victor Lindelof 89); Christian Eriksen, Carlos Casemiro (Manuel Ugarte 89), Alejandro Garnacho (Noussair Mazraoui 90+1), Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund (Joshua Zirkzee 74).
Subs not used: Altay Bayinder, Antony, Amad Diallo, Ethan Wheatley, Jack Fletcher
Booked: Erik Ten Hag (45+5), Ruud Van Nistelrooy (45+5), (Jonny Evans 45+5), Diogo Dalot (54),
Sent off: None
Brentford: Mark Flekken, Sepp Van den Berg (Mads Roerslev 87), Nathan Collins, Ethan Pinnock, Kristoffer Ajer, Vitaly Janelt (Yehor Yarmoliuk 75), Christian Norgaard, Bryan Mbuemo, Mikkel Damsgaard, Keane Lewis-Potter (Yoane Wissa 66), Kevin Schade (Fabio Carvalho 74).
Subs not used: Hakon Valdmarsson, Ben Mee, Jayden Meghoma, Yunus Emre Konak, Ryan Trevitt,
Booked: Christian Norgaard (54), Kristoffer Ajer (73),
Sent off: None
Referee: Samuel Barrott
Attendance: 73,738
Stretty News Player of the Match: Rasmus Hoijlund.