Manchester United returned to winning ways in the Premier League on Wednesday evening, defeating Brentford 1-0 at Old Trafford.
A dominant first-half performance was rewarded with a deserved lead at the break, courtesy of Marcus Rashford and his thunderous finish to round off a well-worked move involving both Antony and Marcel Sabitzer.
David De Gea made a huge save in the second half to deny Brentford a way back into the game, which would be critical come full-time with only one goal in it.
Erik ten Hag’s men return to the top four, whereas Newcastle United managed to win 5-1 at West Ham United to maintain third place.
Ten Hag insisted on a reaction from his players prior to kickoff in the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat to Newcastle. That is exactly what United hoped to deliver under the lights of Old Trafford. The Reds were electric from the start, surging forward and putting pressure on Brentford inside their own half.
Despite a few nice scriptures of play, our first evident sight of goal wouldn’t come until the 20th minute, when Scott McTominay was given a chance. Diogo Dalot and Antony combined to lift the ball into the path of the Scotland international, but he could only watch as his beautifully struck strike flew narrowly over the bar. Antony was involved again a few moments later as he attempted to open the scoring with his signature shot, but it sailed just wide of the goal.
Sabitzer drove forward with his ball near the 30-minute mark and merged well with Luke Shaw, but his ultimate effort was diverted behind for a corner. The Bees cleared the first set-piece, but Antony collected the loose ball and lofted it into Sabitzer. The Austrian padded his header forward toward Rashford, who clobbered his effort into the top of the net from close range.
With a goal up, we gained momentum and raised the bar with some fantastic football. Our best chance after the breakthrough came just before the half, with a fast raid from the back, but Rashford’s poisonous ball into the danger area from a narrow angle was gathered by David Raya as we went into the half a goal up.
Brentford came out for the 2nd quarter with real intent, nearly levelling the score nearly instantly as a result of their high press. De Gea’s intended pass was quickly closed down by Ivan Toney as we looked to play out from the back, with the Brentford centre-forward nearly viewing his diversion go in, but it rebounded broad resulting in a let-off for us at the back.
The Reds played a few slick football to advance up the pitch in search of our second goal, as they had done several times throughout the night. Sabitzer, who was impactful in the middle of the park, was at the heart of another ferocious attack, though his resulting shot on goal was mediocre.
After an hour, De Gea came up overrules for Ten Hag’s side with the best save of the night. With Brentford dominating possession in the second half, a smart flick-on from Toney set replacement Kevin Schade clean through, but our custodian made a big save to deny the Bees forward a certain goal, injuring himself in the process.
With Bees manager Thomas Frank making numerous attacking changes, we spent much of the second half trying to defend with great poise to maintain the London club at bay. Lisandro Martinez, in specific, appeared to never put a foot wrong all night, putting in yet another assured achievement at the back.
Ten Hag: "We've got so many clean sheets this season – we have to also do it in away games, we know that. But I'm happy that the fortress at Old Trafford is there," [MUTV] pic.twitter.com/ctW0OfmqaB
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 5, 2023
Toney had Brentford’s final attempt of the game, a daring chip from range after Fernandes’ clearing fell to him, but it passed right over De Gea’s goal. Rashford’s first-half opener demonstrated to be the difference among one and three points to the delight of Old Trafford faithful, with Frank’s men barely able to have that clinical advantage up top.
Ten Hag and the Reds return to action on Saturday afternoon, when Everton visit the Theatre of Dreams for a mid afternoon kickoff.
