Manchester United suffered their third Premier League defeat in six games as Ruben Amorim’s Reds were beaten 3-1 by Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Rúben Amorim chose to return Matheus Cunha to the starting XI as Manchester United travelled to face Brentford during the opening fixture of the final Premier League weekend of September.
The tie started with United looking to overload Brentford early on, but it was the home side who struck first through Igor Thiago in the 9th minute, who beat Amorim’s offside trap and thumped the ball past Altay Bayındır before then adding Brentford’s second of the afternoon 10 minutes later.
However, Benjamin Šeško was able to bring one back for United by thumping in a scrappy effort, but Amorim’s men could not find a second before the first half came to a close.
With nothing of note occurring before the hour mark, Amorim introduced Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro in an effort to turn the tide in United’s favour. Bryan Mbeumo then won a penalty, but the shocking refereeing allowed five minutes to elapse until Bruno Fernandes took the spot kick, which was saved.
With ten minutes to play, United threw on further attacking reinforcements, but it was to little avail as Brentford were able to hold strong and secure a third goal in added time as Mathias Jensen thundered in the third of a 3-1 win on Saturday afternoon.
#1 – United’s new front three looking disjointed
The Brentford fixture marked the first time United’s new-look front three of Mbeumo, Šeško, and Cunha all started a fixture together, and it feels like it will take them some time on the field to gel.
Initially, the trio looked somewhat disjointed, with a few poor touches and disconnected runs halting attacks early. Despite Šeško’s goal and United’s efforts to become more dominant in the second half, they never really looked like clicking.
With Amorim under pressure, he has a lot of work to do to help his front three combine will before his job is seriously on the line.
#2 – United too soft in physical battles
United’s defensive central players consisted of Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt, Luke Shaw, and Manuel Ugarte when the game kicked off. Still, from the opening moments, the side looked far too soft against Brentford’s physical side.
Before the game started, Amorim spoke on how he felt his squad were better equipped to deal with Brentford’s physical presence, but that did not look the case for the home side’s second goal, as well as for many of the set pieces Keith Andrews’ men threw into Bayındır’s box.
#3 – United’s passing was so sloppy until Mainoo joined in
A recurring theme for United against Brentford was that they failed to dominate the ball, but this was primarily due to their poor passing throughout the tie.
Whether it be the defenders looking to play forward, the midfielders trying to find those in attack, or the forward line trying to play between each other, the passing accuracy just wasn’t there, and it meant United could not create a sustained spell of possession for the first hour.
Once Mainoo was introduced alongside Yoro, United took immediate control of the game, and had Fernadnes converted his effort, it could have been a very different story if Mainoo were to be helping United look for a winning effort.
#4 – Refeering was shocking, but can’t be blamed for loss
There is no doubt that one of the most incompetent pieces of refereeing in recent memory occurred during the penalty incident
Read More: Player Ratings – Brentford 2-1 Manchester United (Premier League)
The referee allowed five minutes to pass after the foul happened, VAR ruled it was not a denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and subsequently permitted Brentford to make substitutions before the spot kick was taken.
However, this loss is still in the hands of United. Ultimately, the players should not have been so passive during the opening 20 minutes and should have been much more aggressive from the start.
#5 – Still no back-to-back wins
The fact that Amorim is yet to collect back-to-back wins in the Premier League since arriving in November 2024 is an almost unfathomable statistic. If it was already hard to ignore, it’s become impossible now.
It’s almost becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy – once United collect a win, there becomes such significant pressure for them to secure a second after that, that they fold quickly.
Amorim has said of late that he would like to know what United’s environment is like once a winning run can be put together, but here’s an ever-increasing feeling that he may never reach that day before a chance of manager is made.
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