Second-half flurry gives United all three points

Manchester United put in a much improved second-half performance to punish Brentford's wasteful finishing.

Action: If it hadn’t been for the smart saves of Manchester United’s in-form goalkeeper, David de Gea, Brentford may well have gone into half-time with a two-goal advantage.

United looked to have started where they finished off last week, lacking direction as Brentford created the majority of the chances. However, de Gea’s footwork thwarted Brentford – and in particular Mathias Jensen – on multiple occasions.

The home side had worked hard in the first period but looked to tire in the second and the visitors made them pay.

Anthony Elanga opened the scoring when his clever run was found by Fred. The Swedish-born teenager’s first touch looped the ball in the air, allowing him to head past Jonas Lossl and score his first goal of the season.

Ralph Rangnick’s team doubled their lead seven minutes later following Cristiano Ronaldo’s chest pass that set Bruno Fernandes free. The Portuguese midfielder laid the ball off selflessly to Mason Greenwood to finish into an empty net.

Substitute Marcus Rashford got a goal he so badly needed to make it three. Scott McTominay did well in midfield in the build-up to find Bruno Fernandes. Fernandes, who captained the team again today, fed Rashford who lifted the ball into the roof of the net.

No doubt United were relieved to have gotten a third goal after throwing away a two-goal lead at Villa Park last weekend. That’s especially true when Brentford managed to get the goal their first-half performance deserved with 85 minutes gone.

A long throw created confusion in the Manchester United penalty area and the ball bounced to Ivan Toney, who made no mistake from close-range. 

Man of the Match: Diogo Dalot was solid defensively, winning plenty of headers at the far post against a physical Brentford. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is going to find it difficult to get back into the team.

xG: Brentford (2.73) 1-3 (1.98) Man Utd

Stat of the Day: Manchester United are the first team to win 300 Premier League away games.

Thomas Frank: "They are unbelievably lucky. I know all the crap bout taking chances. They changed the system against little Brentford." #MUFC

— Shamoon Hafez (@ShamoonHafez) January 19, 2022