Reds close in on Europe
Manchester United are now just two points from a return to the Champions League with this victory over Brentford. Goals from Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko in the first-half put us on the way. It is a big turnaround from the side who lost at Brentford earlier in the season.
It likely sees the end of the London side’s own European ambitions. It was a spirited display by them and Senne Lammens was kept busy. Mathias Jensen’s late drive proved to be just a consolation though.
Michael Carrick made two changes from the side who overcame Chelsea the previous weekend. Harry Maguire returned from his suspension whilst Amad Diallo also came in. They replaced Noussair Mazraoui and Matheus Cunha. Patrick Dorgu returned to the match day squad after an injury lay-off.
Keith Andrews named the same starting eleven for the third game in a row. The only change saw the return of Josh Da Silva from a lengthy injury.
The home side knew that victory could have helped them almost secure a spot in the top five. And they were almost ahead after three minutes. Kobbie Mainoo received the ball from Bruno Fernandes and burst past the attempted challenges of three Brentford players. Caoimhin Kelleher came out to block the shot, but Mainoo flicked it sideways into the path of Amad Diallo. His goal took a deflection off Sepp Van den Berg and went just wide.
They came close again on eight minutes. A cross by Bryan Mbeumo was blocked out for a corner. He played the resulting corner short to Fernandes who floated his cross to Harry Maguire at the back-post. He headed powerfully goal-wards, but Kelleher was just able to prevent it from crossing the line.
He was powerless to stop Utd from going in front from another set piece. Fernandes swung in the corner which was nodded back into the area by Maguire. Casemiro had taken up his usual back-post spot and headed high into the net. It was his ninth of the season in the league.
The visitors have been having a great season and came back strongly. Mathias Jenson and Mikkel Damsgaard combined to set up a chance for Michael Kayode. Senne Lammens stuck out a firm hand to deflect it wide. Dango Ouattara then set up an opportunity for Igor Thiago. He slipped when posing to shoot and a combination of Diogo Dalot and Ayden Heaven halted any rebound.
The two Danes in midfield were finding a lot of space and posing a lot of questions to the Utd back-line. At the other end, Diallo slid in to finish off the post from a Mbeumo cross. He was flagged offside though.
The next goal was to stand though. Diallo won the ball just outside his own area and released it to Fernandes. He charged through the midfield with support from Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko either side of him. He slid it left to the Slovenian who evaded a challenge to double the lead. It was the 19th assist of the season for the reds captain.
Carrick was conscious of the space afforded in the first half, and elected to switch to a back five. Perhaps aware of changes he made too late against Leeds. Noussair Mazraoui coming on for Diallo.
This contributed to a more cautious second period. The visitors still saw a lot of the ball, but were unable to get at the back-line. Both Mainoo and Casemiro did excellent work to limit the influence of their opponents.
They did almost get one back on 71 minutes. A corner by Jensen was flicked on in the middle and Ouattara struck the woodwork from a few yards out. His attempted follow-up was blocked by Maguire. Casemiro almost sealed the win with 13 minutes to go after neat build up from Fernandes and Mason Mount. His shot went just past the post.
Brentford did manage to get one back with a few minutes to go. They won a free kick out wide on the right that came into the path of Jensen. He swept home a shot from 20 yards plus that wrong-sighted Lammens. Damsgaard almost joined his countryman on the scoresheet in injury time. He headed straight at Lammens though.
Utd did see it through to the end though. Two points from four games now guarantees us top five. The squad and coaching staff will aim to finish as high as possible. A juicy encounter lies ahead on Sunday with the visit of Liverpool who are out to secure their own spot. Brentford host West Ham who are desperate to try and avoid the drop on Saturday.
Manchester United: Senne Lammens, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Ayden Heaven, Luke Shaw (Leny Yoro 73), Carlos Casemiro, Amad Diallo (Noussair Mazraoui 46), Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo (Mason Mount 74), Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko (Joshua Zirkzee 88).
Subs not used: Altay Bayinder, Tyrell Malacia, Patrick Dorgu, Manuel Ugarte, Shea Lacey.
Booked: Luke Shaw (06), Joshua Zirkzee (90+2)
Sent off: None
Brentford: Caoimhin Kelleher, Michael Kayode, Sepp Van den Berg, Nathan Collins, Keane Lewis-Potter, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Mathias Jensen, Dango Ouattara, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade (Reiss Nelson 73), Igor Thiago
Subs not used: Hakon Valdimarsson, Aaron Hickey, Ethan Pinnock, Josh Da Silva, Kristoffer Ajer, Romelle Donovan, Kaye Furo, Ollie Shield.
Booked: Sepp Van den Berg (40), Dango Ouattara (71), Igor Thiago (76), Nathan Collins (90+6)
Sent Off: None
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Attendance: 73,773
Simply Red Man of the Match: Casemiro
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