It will be just as strange if this Manchester United team makes it to the Champions League as the outcome of this game.
By scoring in the last few seconds of extra time, Mason Mount seemed to have committed the biggest theft of the Premier League season so far.
And Kristoffer Ajer’s equalizer even later wasn’t fair either.
Because United were completely beaten by a great Brentford team that is still in danger of going down.
This is the time of the year for wonders, and Erik Ten Hag’s team should not have lost any games at all. Another loss would have ended their chances of finishing in the top four or five.
Before Ajer’s goal, the Bees had three shots saved by the post, Andre Onana made some great saves, a goal was ruled out for offside, and many other chances were lost.
Ten Hag says he doesn’t care about rumors that he will be fired as part of the changes that new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team want to make.
Of course, the chance of a big reward makes the risk less important.
But any United fan who cares about the team will be curious about where it is going with the Dutchman in charge.
United started the game with the same team that beat Liverpool 4–3 in that exciting FA Cup match, which, along with last season’s Carabao Cup win, was the best thing that happened during Ten Hag’s tenure.
But the big question is how different United is now than the last time they came to this part of West London.
Before the game, Brentford showed clips from their thrilling 4-0 win in August 2022, when Thomas Frank’s team scored four goals in the first 35 minutes.
Without a doubt, the score would have stayed the same at halftime if one of the goals had been scored better.
Even though United spent a lot of money on Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana, and Mason Mount this season, it’s not fair to say that they’ve gone backwards.
If Tottenham and Aston Villa’s wins earlier in the day hadn’t woken United up to the job at hand, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” playing over the Brentford PA system before the game should have.
The United fans who were traveling were also in a good mood when the game began.
But their team didn’t really give them much to shout about, especially in the first half.
Brentford had all the best chances after captain Bruno Fernandes missed an early shot. By halftime, they should have been ahead by at least two goals.
A lot of crosses and corners were going into Andre Onana’s box. Headers and shots missed the back of the net.
Toney, who had just scored his first England goal from the penalty spot against Belgium, missed the best of the chances.
Full of life Raphael Varane was stopped by Yoane Wissa’s first-time pass, which found his strike partner on the wrong side of Victor Lindelof. But Toney’s shot got a little off, hit Onana’s right post, and bounced off to safety.
The home team did a good job of defending, but United didn’t do much to get in the game.
Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, two wingers, were having a hard time making an effect.
At the other end, Zanka hit the bar with a header, and Toney missed the target with a shot that was high and wide.
Even though Brentford had ten shots, United’s first shot on goal didn’t come until the 42nd minute. The shot from Rashford was easily stopped by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken, just like the rest of his team had done with the other team.
At the very end, Lindelof made another save and Onana blocked a shot from Lewis-Potter.
At halftime, Harry Maguire came on for the hurt Varane, and United played with a little more purpose. Flekken had no trouble stopping Fernandes’ shot, and he was glad to see Diogo Dalot’s effort go just wide.
Also, Wissa missed a great chance to score during a two-on-two break. Fernandes then set up Hojlund, but Flekken made a great save.
To be fair, Onana did just as well to block Yehor Yarmoliuk’s and Lewis-Potter’s follow-up attempts. But the United goalkeeper couldn’t do anything about Wissa’s shot that went wide.
Ten Hag had enough before the hour and sent Antony to get Garnacho.
Not much changed, and Brentford still couldn’t take their chances. There was a chance that Toney’s header from Jensen’s pass would have been the goal of the season, though.
United’s defensive problems got worse when Lindelof became the second center back to get hurt and have to leave the game. Lisandro Martinez came on as a World Cup winner. It was his first game since February and only his ninth in the Premier League this season.
Acrobatics by Lewis-Potter went over the bar before Frank made his first changes.Antony’s shot went just wide, and then Brentford finally scored. VAR then confirmed that Toney wasn’t onside when Bryan Mbeumo crossed the ball from the bench.
Then it was Mbeumo’s turn to miss; he hit the post. Jensen’s shot was stopped by Onana.
Martinez made a mistake, but Toney didn’t take advantage of it. It was really amazing.There would be at least nine minutes of stopping time. In the sixth, forgotten man Mount scored a nice goal.
But brave Brentford escaped the worst possible loss when Ajer turned in Toney’s cutback in the ninth minute.
If they had scored a few more goals, no one in those awful United shirts would have been upset.
