Brentford crashes Amorim and United’s hopes. Amorim drops Mainoo again.
Manchester United failed again to win important 3 points against mid-table teams. Amorim looks clueless in the midfield situation. He still does not trust Mainoo enough to give him a start.
Brentford were clinical and flawless in the midfield. They controlled the Midfield, which led them to hit United hard on counters. Igor Thiago was a beast in the attacking third. Converting half-chances into Goals was also a big factor in United’s loss this weekend.
Timeline
- 8’ GOAL! Igor Thiago (Brentford) – Brentford’s quick counter, Henderson’s long ball finds Thiago, and the Brazilian sends the ball to the top corner.
- 20’ GOAL! Igor Thiago (Brentford)-De Ligt gets beaten by a long ball; Thiago finds Schade, and he pulls the ball back on the left byline—Thiago scores on the rebound from Bayindir’s flapping.
- 26’ GOAL! Benjamin Sesko (Manchester United) – Dorgu crosses the ball from the left byline–the Slovenian smashes the ball in the net on rebound.
- 90+5’ GOAL Mathias Jensen (Brentford)-Brentford counter, Yarmoliuk scoops over players to find Jensen and carries and shoots the ball in the centre of the goal.
Final Score: Brentford 3-1 Manchester United
Tactical Breakdown
United’s midfield looked shaky and not agile from the first minute. In the first half, United tried to press high and tried to force Brentford into their half. This led Brentford to attack on the Counters through long balls. The first goal from Thiago ended in this pattern. A long ball from Henderson found Thiago superbly and a clean finish to the top corner for a goal.
The first goal shifted the momentum towards Brentford. United, already struggling in midfield, started to feel the pressure of home ground. From this moment United just chased the game but never succeeded in doing so.
United tried to attack through the flanks a number of times but never had the level of quick and quality ball distribution from the midfield to execute those attacks in the final box. United got some chances here and there but the lack of confidence was clearly visible.
Sesko finally scored after a lot of chances from a cross, but still after this relief United never showed enough intent. It was as if they were leading the match. Unnecessary back passes and building from the back have troubled them a lot but still repeating the same mistakes looked very frustrating for the away fans.
After conceding the goal, Brentford defended the lead with defensive stiffness and they became more rigid and strong in transitions. They made sure to keep the ball and win as many second balls as they could. This is expected and is quite common among mid-table teams. For them these 3 points might be the decider of their relegation.
Standout Performers
- Igor Thiago – Clinical shots, good hold-up play throughout 90 minutes.Relentless pressing and agility help to take shots and score from any tight angles.Outperformed his xG.
- Yehor Yarmoliuk – Ball Carrying was top, and ball distribution. Good long balls to find attackers, which turned into an assist too
Manager and Player Reaction
Ruben Amorim:
“Everything is important in this club… we need to win every game and we are not doing that”
Keith Andrews:
It was a special afternoon, I think it was the result we deserved
Stats
Effects on the Premier League Table
Manchester United still needs to get a good run of fixtures where they don’t lose points, though this week they were lucky as most of the teams above them have lost poinṭs too. Brentford will be very happy to win points in fixtures like this, where they are not expected to win.
After Matchday 6 Day 1, the table looks like this:
Fan Reactions
Conclusion
Amorim should have given Kobie Mainoo a start. The midfield looked dead, and Brentford took that advantage and dominated the ball distribution from midfield. Amorim needs to fix the midfield issue to win games, not by scoring more but by conceding less.
