The Red Devils returned to winning ways with a convincing victory over Brentford.
Manchester United defeated Brentford 3-1 in their Premier League game on Wednesday. Ralf Rangnick’s side returned back to seventh place while the Bees suffered their third consecutive defeat.
Three academy stars, three goals!
Ronaldo made his return to Man United’s lineup after recovering from a hip injury. Rangnick placed the Portuguese superstar alongside youngster Anthony Elanga, Bruno Fernandes, and Mason Greenwood upfront.
Brentford stunned United by creating several chances behind their backline early on. The Bees kept on attacking throughout the first half as their opponents seemed way too messy to create serious chances.
Mathias Jensen had two decent goalscoring opportunities but David De Gea managed to save both with excellent saves. United kept repeating the same mistakes from their recent games while delivering yet another unbalanced performance in midfield. However, they delivered an entirely changed reaction after the interval.
The Red Devils found their rhythm quickly, breaking the deadlock only ten minutes into the second half. Following a searching cross from Fred, Elanga scored his first league goal of the season with a precise header.
Brentford tried to grab a quick equalizer, but United punished them with a clinical counter-attack. Fernandes provided an inch-perfect cutback for Mason Greenwood, who doubled his side’s lead as soon as he received it.
United dominated the possession after the second goal and managed to increase their lead. Fernandes provided his second assist of the night to complete his brilliant performance in the 77th minute.
Marcus Rashford received a brilliant pass from the Portuguese star before scoring with a strike into the top-right corner. The hosts got one back through Ivan Toney in the 85th minute. But, they did not have enough time to mount a comeback.
The victory sends United to seventh spot ahead of their game against West Ham on Saturday.
On the other hand, Brentford slip to 14th place on the league table. Next up for the Bees is a league game against Wolves.
Player Ratings
Brentford: Lossl (5); Sorensen (6), Jansson (5), Pinnock (7); Roerslev (5), Janelt (6), Norgaard (6), Jensen (7), Canos (5); Mbeumo (6), Toney (8).
Bench: Henry (5), Baptiste (6), Wissa (6).
Manchester United: De Gea (7); Dalot (7), Lindelof (7), Varane (7), Telles (6); McTominay (8), Fred (8); Greenwood (7), Elanga (7), Fernandes (8); Ronaldo (7).
Bench: Maguire (6), Rashford (7), Matic (6).
Feel free to make your pick on a player’s ratings and performances using the widget below.
Be sure not to miss out on the latest news about Manchester United
Download our brand new App and follow your favorite players, clubs, and much more
