4 May 2025
Brentford 4 Man Utd 3
Brentford welcomed Man Utd to the Gtech Community Stadium. What a different position both clubs find themselves in. The Bees know that a good finish to the season could get them a place in the Europa Conference League, whereas the Red Devils only have the hope of winning the Europa League gifting them a Champions League spot next campaign.
Lewis-Potter put a long ball over the top of the Man Utd defence early on. The Red Devils’ clown troop went straight into action as Shaw nearly headed past his own keeper and was relieved to see it go behind for a corner. Amorim was giving Bayindir a run out that almost had a calamitous start to it. There just seems no cohesion in their back line at all.
Mbuemo played the corner short and eventually it was worked to Yarmoliuk. He put a teasing cross into the box that fell to Schade at the back post. As the striker slid in to meet it, his half-volley went sailing over the crossbar. If there had been any doubt from the hosts that they could unlock this Man Utd defence, these concerns were well and truly gone.
However, the visitors were soon to hit them on a rare break. Mainoo clipped a pass over the full-back for Garnacho to run onto. The Argentine hit a first-time cross into the box and Mount neatly slotted it home for his second Premier League goal for Man Utd. The away end erupted as the majority of the Gtech Community Stadium fell silent.
Ruben Amorim’s team were looking an absolute mess at the back. Kayode launched a long throw-in, which was half-cleared. Brentford won the second ball as it was headed on to Damsgaard. His volley at the near post took a deflection off Shaw and beat Bayindir at his near post. At this stage of the game, you felt any scoreline was possible.
As the visitors looked to clear once again, de Ligt went down clutching his leg and holding his hand up like he had a question for the teacher. Brentford continued and Norgaard’s cross was headed home by Schade at the back post. The Bees had managed to turn this game on its head in the space of six minutes in West London.
The Man Utd players swarmed around the referee demanding the game should have been stopped due to the Dutchman’s injury. This answers some questions as to why this squad are just so woeful, they do not even know the rules of the game. With no head injury, there was absolutely no reason for the official to stop play.
Just before the break Ugarte was shown a yellow card for a blatant foul on the impressive Kayode. Damsgaard whipped it into the box and Norgaard flicked on at the near post. Bayindir made a good reaction save to keep it out deny The Bees another goal. As a result, the two teams headed in at the break with a slender lead to the hosts.
It was the hosts who looked most likely to score after the interval. A teasing ball was played into the box and van den Berg flicked on but Wissa could not turn it in wide of the far post. Man Utd were struggling to deal with the aerial threat of Thomas Frank’s side. You felt Brentford needed another goal to give them some breathing space.
They didn’t have to wait long as Schade got on the end of a Mbuemo cross to give The Bees a two-goal lead. It all seemed so static from the visitors. Moments later, Kayode laid it on a plate for Wissa to slot home and put the hosts in a dominant position. The Red Devils had completely folded since the break and it was one-way traffic from the hosts.
Towards the end of the game, the visitors appeared to have grabbed themselves a consolation. Eriksen played a neat one-two with Garnacho, before the Argentine winger struck a superb curling shot into the far corner. It gave Flekken no chance of keeping it out in the Brentford goal. With under ten minutes remaining, it also offered a glimmer of hope.
Deep into added time, Amad was allowed to cut inside onto his left-foot before drilling a low shot through the legs of the keeper. He seemed to be unsighted with a defender in front of him. Nobody in a blue shirt showed the hunger for the win as they all jogged back to their positions with an air of acceptance that this game was lost.
The Bees’ win kept their feint hopes of European football alive in the process. Red Devils’ fans will no doubt convince themselves that the league does not matter any more and it is all about the Europa League from here onwards. The reality is that there was nothing out of the ordinary about this performance from Man Utd, it is what we have now come to accept from them.
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