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Key events
24 min Damsgaard spreads left then, when the ball goes right, Outtara’s cross is blocked.
23 min Since that early run, Mainoo has been quiet, and that’s been his problem so far – he must get better at finding the ball and passing it incisively. Chelsea felt like a step forward, but only if he maintains the level
22 min “There’s an unbelievable amount of space in this game,” reckons Tim Stappard, and I agree. Both sides are good at finding it and United are also excellent at leaving it – a situation I imagine they hope to address in the summer by signing midfielders
20 min When United opted to start the season with Andre Onana in net, it was mind-boggling enough, but seeing how solid Lammens is, it makes even less sense. He saves almost everything he should, which alone makes him a massive upgrade, and also plenty he shouldn’t. There’s work to do with his passing and foot-movement, especially when facing long shots, but he’s been a monumental upgrade, and having him there has made a huge difference to United’s defenders.
18 min The resultant corner comes to nothing, but this is a really entertaining and open game.
17 min oh, he does get a touch because it’s a corner and gain, Brentford pick a pass in behind United, Damsgaard sliding in for Kayode as the defence steps up. He looks to send an outswinging finish towards the far side-netting, but Lammens spreads himself well to make the save.
16 min But then United give it away and Outtara seizes upon the loose ball, slipping a fine reverse-pass in behind for Lewis-Potter, who delivers a perfect low cross into the corridor. Thiago is there, but Shaw slides in and must put him off, because he doesn’t get a touch but the striker can’t land a boot on it.
15 min Brentford come forward and win a corner, the ref taking a moment as the players jostle around Senne Lammens, then the ball comes in and Casemiro, equally adept in his own box, heads clear.
13 min That’s now nine league goals for Casemiro; it’s not often you see a player whose timing and execution are both stellar, never mind a defensive midfielder who scored 24 goals in 221 games for Real Madrid.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Brentford (Casemiro 11)
It’s absolutely absurd, it really is. Bruno swings the corner out and Maguire is totally unmarked, nodding back to what was the near post where Casemiro sneaks in behind the defensive line to again deposit an expert headed finish into the roof. How on earth are United going to replace his output?
10 min United fancy Mbeumo in behind Lewis-Potter, another ball setting him away and he’s got a start on Collins, who gets back at him well, conceding another corner.
10 min It’s been a really good start – there’s proper tempo to the game.
8 min Bruno’s corner picks out Mauire at the back post, he arches backwards to make it his, butts firmly … and Kelleher claws away, just, some of the ball over the line but the rest not.
8 min United have stared well and Bruno sweeps out to Mbeumo – seeing the farthest pass first, as Glenn Hioddle said of David Beckham. The eventuating cross, though, is blocked at source.
7 min “Yes, all joking aside,” retyuns Justin, “if readers haven’t ever heard of Eamon Dunphy’s work, he is a very fine sports journalist, well worth checking out. And no, he’s not my uncle or anything. And neither is Chris Kavanagh, tonight’s ref, btw. Only a Game is a classic fly-on-the-wall account of a season in freefall in mid-1970s Cold Blow Lane.”
It starts so positively too, which is why it’s so heartbreaking as it progresses.
6 min Now Brentford counter and Shaw hauls down Schade on halfway; he’s booked.
5 min United win another corner, again cleared, but they’ve started well here.
3 min The corner is cleared to Shaw, who leathers over the top from distance.
2 min OH MY DAYS HOW HAS AMAD MISSED THIS?! Mainoo gets on the ball and runs – United have been poor at putting him where he can do what makes him special, beating men in small spaces with such dexterity you barely believe he’s come out with the ball. He sways inside and away from Damsgaard and, now in the box, feints and dips inside Yarmolyuk then Collins. He might shoot, but instead makes sure by squaring for Amad, who punches towards the far corner … only for the shot to clip Van den Berg’s heel and fly wide. That’s why you go high when faced with a man on the line.
2 min United sweep forward with Bruno and Casemiro moving it quickly, then the ball arrives at Dalot inverting; he swipes into touch.
1 min For now, at least, it’s Mbeumo on the right and Amad on the left. I’m not sure why, but perhaps it’s because he badly needs a goal, so is in the position that best enables him to seek that.
1 min Away we go!
Our teams are tunnelled … and out they come!
“You’d worry for Keith Andrews’ hair tonight with those ominous-looking storm clouds over Old Trafford,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “This is hair so great that it gets parodied on Irish TV alongside the bald truth of Liam Brady’s and another guy’s who used to play for Manchester United (but mainly Milwall) called Eamon Dunphy.”
It’s a work of art. I actually found a book Dunphy’s, Only A Game, in the school library – it’s a classic – and his biography of Matt Busby, A Strange Kind of Glory, is absolutely magnificent.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Brentford’s wide players do. They’ve got serious pace on both sides with Outtara and Schade, but also behind them, where Kayode and Lewis-Potter will be thrusting forward. Neither Luke Shaw nor Diogo Dalot are all that, and if both are pinned back, United might struggle defensively and also for width.
“Any idea why the he FA Cup semi was on TNT yesterday?” wonders Dave Estherby. “I give Sky enough money as it is and still miss the Saturday lunchtime game every week, now I have to go the pub for domestic Cup games too? Joke.
On another note, a well-known turf accountant was offering 1500-1 last week on Utd finishing higher than Arsenal; if that ain’t worth a tenner nothing is.
(Not to condone gambling etc…)”
Well they paid for the rights, but yes, it is absolutely the case that, generally speaking, monopolies are bad for consumers, but in the case of televised sport, it means more subscriptions are necessary – you also need Amazon Prime for Champions League. And it’s particularly egregious in the case of TNT, formerly BT, who used their historic telecoms monopoly to fund their tenders in order to flog broadband.
So where is the game? United will look to find Bruno Fernandes, who’s recently started pulling wide to feed ball and swing over crosses; a question is whether Mainoo can continue the form he showed at Chelsea, linking play to get his attackers the ball. If his touch volume stays high, he can start controlling play, exactly what United currently lack – and their front players can score against anyone.
Brentford, meanwhile, will want to flood the middle of the pitch, where Casemiro can’t cover ground, and also look to double-up out wide, putting crosses into the box – and throws, and corners. For that reason, United will be happy to have Maguire back, but I’d not be surprised if Igor Thiago looks to drag him out to the wings, nor if Shade and Outtara come from out to in, looking to test his pace and get hi facing his own goal.
This is a pretty big game for Michael Carrick. As we said at the top, his team struggled against Leeds and also lost at Newcastle, despite playing against 10 for a half. Brentford will be similarly physical, so it’s up to United to show their manager can combat that kind of opponent.
It seems like Benjamin Sesko is now installed as United’s first-choice centre-forward – though full confirmation will come next weekend, when Liverpool visit Old Trafford, as in previous big games, Carrick has deployed Mbeumo through the middle.
Ultimately, though, the club spent all that money on Sesko because the plan is for him to be a regular, so really, they need to build around him, which means better delivery from wide areas; I wonder if we’ll see whoever plays on the left whip balls for him to the front post, though I also think there’s hay to be made with Mbeumo coming inside to swing those in to the back stick.
It’s been a difficult second half of the season for Amad who, as a dribbler, offers a threat that no other United player does, and is also an excellent scavenger for possession. But his numbers are nowhere near where they need to be, which is presumably why he was left out at Chelsea.
Either Amad or Bryan Mbeumo will be playing out of position tonight. I’d imagine it’ll be Amad on the right and Mbeumo on the left, as the latter has the pace and power to go on the outside, the former less so.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is in the sky studio, for some reason dressed as Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
As for Brentford, Andrews picks the same side for the third match in a row – partly a facility of those injuries – but Josh Dasilva is back on the bench after nobbling his knee in February 2024 and missing the entirety of last season. Godspeed, old mate.
So looking at that United XI, Harry Maguire returns after suspension, replacing Noussair Mazraoui, while Amad Diallo is back in with Cunha out. Otherwise, Patrick Dorgu is back on the bench having jiggered his hamstring at Arsenal in January, while Shea Lacey is rewarded for his excellent age-gpoup performances, included on the bench despite playing yesterday.
Now here’s Keith Andrews, and you’ll be delighted to know his barnet is looking lush. Brentford have earned the right to go into this match in a confident manner and though they’ve not earned as many points as he’d like in recent weeks, he’s been fairly happy with the performances; though he’s got injury problems, there’s a special togetherness within the group and he wants them to play with personality.
On Ciaomhin Kelleher, he says he’s known him a long time through Ireland, so when he became available, signing him was a no-brainer – and he felt it’d be a good move for the player.
Before we go over those, Michael Carrick is talking to Sky, telling them he wanted to get Kobbie Mainoo on to the pitch enjoying himself – he needed to find himself and against Chelsea, he was excellent – without giving him too much guidance.
On Ayden Heaven, he says he’s got the talent and did so well in the last game, he’s kept his place.
Otherwise, he’s been asked about what business the club needs to do in the summer and however long he’s there, he’s not taking short-term decisions, he wants the best for the football club. However long it goes on, he’s really enjoying working with the players.
Matheus Cunha hurt his hip flexor at Chelsea and improved during the week but they’re not risking him tonight.
Teams!
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Heaven, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes, Mbeumo; Sesko. Subs: Bayindir, Dorgu, Malacia, Mazraoui, Yoro, Mount, Ugarte, Lacey, Zirkzee.
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, Van Den Berg, Lewis-Potter- Jensen, Yarmoliuk; Schade, Damsgaard, Ouattara; Thiago. Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Pinnock, Dasilva, Nelson, Ajer, Donovan, Furo, Shield.
Referee: Chris Kavangh (Ashton-under-Lyne)
Preamble
One of the most joyous things about football is how miserable it makes almost everyone – Arsenal, for example, are top of the table and in the semi-finals of the Champions League, yet there’s no sense anyone connected with them is enjoying any of it.
Unusually, though, both tonight’s clubs are pretty happy with life. United have near enough secured Champions League football for next season and, since Michael Carrick took over from Ruben Amorim, no side has won more points nor scored more goals. For the first time in a long time, talk of a title challenge doesn’t sound ridiculous.
Brentford, meanwhile, looked relegation favourites in August, losing some of their best players and their manager too. But Keith Andrews has guided them superbly such that they now sit eighth in the table, and have every chance of securing European football for the first time in their history.
And make no mistake, they’ll come to Old Trafford to win. It won’t have escaped Andrews’ attention how much United struggled with Leeds’ physicality this time last week and, though tonight’s probable centre-back partnership will be better able to cope with pressure of that sort, Brentford are better at applying it.
Which is to say that, with both teams committed to attack and needing points but not under pressure, this should be a lot of fun – unless one of football’s overarching truths decides to the contrary.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
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