Rasmus Hojlund's winning goal was a stroke of solid skill, as Erik ten Hag and struggling Manchester United secured three points for the first time since beating Southampton 3-0 in mid-September. He brought a sense of calm to United.
In the 62nd minute, Brentford were denied by the right corner flag. Upon winning the ball, Christian Eriksen slides a pass to Bruno Fernandes, and his no-look flick to Hojlund deftly beats No. 9 Mark Frecken as the Brentford goalkeeper goes grounder. It was just as wonderful.
Within two minutes of the second half, Alejandro Garnacho scored the equalizer with a volley. This was probably an appropriate response to the fiasco overseen by Ten Hag and the medical staff just before the interval that foreshadowed Brentford's opener. When the goal was scored, it seemed to be emblematic of United's malaise. Matthijs de Ligt suffered a head injury at the start of the first half when the visitors attempted to take a corner kick from the left and was ordered to be treated for a third time on the touchline by referee Sam Barot.
At the same time, Mikkel Damsgaard's dead ball came in… amazing surprise – Ethan Pinnock stood up in the middle of Andre Onana’s goal, where the Dutchman should have been, and headed an unmarked shot.
Cue de Ligt lashed out at fourth official Gavin Ward, and a furious Ruud van Nistelrooy did the same, with the latter and Ten Hag receiving warnings for their angry reactions. While there is some responsibility for United's medical staff, as two previous attempts had been made to stop De Ligt's bleeding, it was ultimately Ten Hag who had previously replaced the defender. I took responsibility for what I didn't do.
The manager explained that the outburst was caused by De Ligt's insistence that no treatment was needed because the blood was “dry,” but even so, it seemed necessary to deal with it for hygiene reasons. It will be done.
Conclusion: De Ligt, do not have Bandaged into the second half, Ten Hag declared United had used the sense of unfairness as fuel, and within two minutes the perfect counterattack was born. Marcus Rashford's curved cross found the far post and Garnacho equalized. It was his first league goal since the win over Saints, and United's Premier League goals tally increased by 20% to six.
“I know what he's capable of. He's a threat, he can score, but he's also a threat one-on-one,” Ten Hag said of Garnacho. The final product is definitely what we needed and missed in the first game of the season. ”
His finish saw Ten Hag and Van Nistelrooy embrace and United's spirits soared, something that had never been the case before this game. “Fairy tales and lies” were the manager's pre-match claims about some reports that his job was in jeopardy ahead of the international break. Strangely, Ten Hag did not mention how United, who sit 14th in the table with eight points from seven games and a -3 goal difference, were applying pressure. These were the latest threads of intrigue swirling around United, also taking into account Sir Alex Ferguson's £2.6m pay cut as United's 'global ambassador'.
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But here they finished on top and deserved the win. De Ligt's cut came when it hit Kevin Shade's knee, not the ball. United were also lucky to have the centre-back back as they were determined not to give in to Farago, who was their main player. United next face Fenerbahce. The Europa League will be played on Thursday and they will travel to West Ham three days later.
Rashford was United's standout performer, a player with burst, zig-zag passing and menace. “I really enjoyed how he played today,” the manager said. “We can see how capable he is. Every game we want to see how he can contribute to the team, really strong and great crosses (Garnacho's goal). .
“If he behaves like this, he will score.” [too] But it also starts with a fighting spirit and if we all give our all on the pitch, we will have a team that can play for trophies this season. ”
The question remains: can United finally find the consistency to do so?
