On a rainy Monday night at Old Trafford, Manchester United defeated Brentford 3-0, with Portugal internationals Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring to keep their side in sixth position in the Premier League. They made progress toward their goal of claiming all of their available final points.
United vs Brentford – Starting XI
Man Utd: De Gea, A.Telles, Lindelof, Varane, Dalot, Elanga, Matic, McTominay, Bruno Fernandes, Juan Mata, Ronaldo.
Substitutes: Eric Baily, Phil Jones, Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Fred, Cavani, Dean Henderson, Alvaro Fernandez, Alejandro Garnacho.
Brentford: David Martin, Kristoff Ajer, Sorenson, Rico Henry, Rasmussen, Jansson, Vitaly Janelt, Christian Norgaard, Christian Eriksan, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo.
Substitutes: Mathias Jensen, Josh Silva, Yoane Wissa, Julian Jeanvier, Tarique Fosu-Henry, Shandon Baptiste, Finley Stevens, Alvaro Fernandez, Nathan Coombes.
Match Analysis
Thomas Frank’s side came close to scoring only three seconds after the game began as Bryan Mbeumo raced on, with Alex Telles’ challenge sparing United from the worst possible start. Soon after, Cristiano Ronaldo, the typically clinical No 7 attempted to blast past David Raya and slipped. In the 9th minute, Bruno Fernandes swept home Anthony Elanga’s cross in the middle of the box to give the hosts the lead. With the opening for United, Fernandes ended an eight-match Premier League goalless skid. Eriksen blasted a 20-yard stinger that took two tries for David de Gea to save. While Rico Henry’s marauding was dispersing United’s shaky defence. Just before halftime, Ronaldo appeared to have extended the advantage, but the goal was called out for offside.
David De Gea kept his team in the game with some outstanding goalkeeping in the second half. He denied attempts from Christian Eriksen and Ivan Toney. After drawing a foul on Rico Henry in the box, Ronaldo calmly converted from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 for United. Before this, the Portugal international had scored eight of United’s past nine league goals, seven of them at Old Trafford. Before Long Raphael Varane connected with the ball from a corner kick and beat Brentford custodian David Rayato to extend the advantage to three goals.
Conclusion
United now has 58 points from 36 games, six more than West Ham United, who have a game in hand for sixth place and a place in the Europa League for the 2022-23 season. However, they will still finish with their lowest Premier League points total ever. They’ve had three managers this season while appointing a new one: Erik ten Hag. There will be no Champions League qualifying unless a miracle occurs.
