Some post-match admin: The more I see of Nathan Collins’ blatant yank on Bryan Mbeumo that earned Manchester United a penalty they went on to miss, the more I think that the Brentford captain was extremely lucky to avoid a red card following the subsequent VAR inquiry. He made no attempt whatsoever to play the ball, he clearly fouled Mbeumo and in the process he clearly denied him a clear and wonderful goalscoring opportunity.
Anyhow, the Premier League Match Centre have piped up with an explanation that makes little or no sense. “The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Collins deemed to [have] pulled Mbeumo back,” ” they posted on X. “VAR also checked the referee’s call of yellow card to Collins – and deemed that Mbeumo wasn’t in control of the ball.”
Well of course he wasn’t in control of the ball, because he wasn’t able to get it under control on account of there being a big Irishman hanging out of the back of his shirt. We haven’t heard the last of this and the best team won but despite their dismal performance, Manchester United do have every right to feel aggrieved at both the incorrect decision and the extraordinary length of time the VAR officials took to get it wrong. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, wherever you may be.
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Brentford 3-1 Manchester United
Premier League match report: Igor Thiago scored two for the home side while Matthias Jensen added a late third, as Brentford deservedly put Manchester United to the sword in a match where Benjamin Sesko opened his account for the visitors, Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty and one that wasn’t without its controversial moments. David Hytner reports from the Gtech Community Stadium …
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An email: “VAR delays over penalties shouldn’t happen but when they do, the goalie has the same problems in keeping his concentration as the kicker,” writes Colum.
I could not disagree more, Colum because the penalty-taker is expected to score, while the goalkeeper is not expected to save. And if it is a case that delays have an adverse effect on goalkeepers, why do so many of them try to put off penalty-takers by delaying their attempts to take the spot-kicks by wandering off their line to inspect the position of the ball on the spot or taking long drinks from their water bottles?
Nathan Collins: Brentford’s skipper is asked by TNT how relieved he was to see Caoimhin Kelleher save Bruno Fernandes’ penalty. “Yeah, fairly,” he beams. “I had trust in him though because I’ve seen him do it before. When he goes into a penalty shoot-out I’m more convinced that he’s going to save it than they’re going to score.”
Was he relieved not to see a red card? “Ah no, I knew … tactical,” he says, laughing.
Caoimhin Kelleher: “It was an important time in the game when we were 2-1 up,” he says. “It was a big save and obviously we did well to finish the game off.”
Ruben Amorim: "We need to do better"
You don’t say, Ruben. Manchester United’s head coach has been talking to TNT Sports. “Of course we want to win,” he tells them. “We didn’t control the game. We played the game of Brentford. First balls, second balls, set pieces. All the crucial moments were against us. Tough to lose again but we need to think about the next one.
“The first goal was a long ball. We worked on that in the week, and on set pieces. We knew the long balls [were to be expected] and one touch they had the opportunity. We need to do better. We didn’t play our game. We only had control for some moments. But it was more or less all the same. We need to play our games, not the opponent’s, but they were stronger on that.”
And on his immediate job prospects: “It is always the same to lose at this club, it hurts a lot. We need to think about the next one.”
Next up for Manchester United? Sunderland at home.
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An email: “You enjoy seeing Manchester United lose?” writes Mark W. “Why the hell are you providing play-by-play, then? What happened to impartial reporting? The Manchester Guardians anti-United agenda continues unabated.”
Quite apart from the fact that my reporting was completely impartial and the current iteration of the team from Old Trafford doesn’t need mine or anyone else’s help in peddling any sort of anti-United agenda when they’re doing such a good job of it themselves, somebody should probably tell our American friend that everyone of a certain age in the UK and Ireland who doesn’t support United enjoys seeing them lose.
Second half recap: Given the chance to equalise from the spot for a Nathan Collins foul on Bryan Mbeumo that I and many others are convinced should have resulted in a red card for the Brentford skipper, Bruno Fernandes was forced to wait almost five minutes to take Manchester United’s penalty while the occupants of the VAR booth faffed around before arriving at what I’m fairly certain was a completely wrong decision. Brentford’s coaching team did their bit to maximise the delay by making some substitutions; a sublime bit of gamesmanship.
After all that hanging around, the United captain’s poor effort was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher and United never really threatened again, before conceding their third goal of the game to a Brentford counter-attack in added time. On as a sub, Matthias Jensen ensured Bretnford took all three points with a fine strike from distance that he only seemed to take on because he had no other options available. It’s an excellent win for Brentford, while Manchester United remain the gift that just keeps on giving.
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Manchester United: Led by Bruno Fernandes and looking genuninely ashamed of themselves, Manchester United’s players slink towards the away end to applaud the few remaining Manchester United fans who haven’t already left the Gtech Stadium.
Fernandes looks on the verge of tears, while just over his shoulder, Joshua Zirkzee has the thousand-yard stare of a haunted young troop who has just come back from the front. The once all-conquering Manchester United are an absolute shambles and it’s difficult to see how the club hierarchy can let things meander on in their current dismal state.
Indeed, there’s so much wrong at the club from the top down that it’s difficult to know where they’ll even start but I have a fair idea. Stay tuned for post-match reaction …
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Brentford 3-1 Manchester United
Full time: It’s a statement win for Brentford’s fledgling manager Keith Andrews and could yet be a statement defeat for Ruben Amorim, whose side continue to plumb new depths. They are hopeless.
90+6 min: “Sacked in the morning! You’re getting sacked in the morning!” I’m not sure whether it’s Brentford fans or travelling Manchester United fans who are serenading Ruben Amorim but whoever it is, they might be right.
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GOAL! Brentford 3-1 Manchester United (Jensen 90+5)
Wow! Not long on as a sub, Mathias Jensen arrows a beauty of a shot past Altay Bayindir from about 25 yards out to round off a splendid counter-attack. That is a beauty.
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90+5 min: Joshua Zirkzee is on the pitch and heads over.
90+2 min: It looks like it’s back to the drawing board for that already top-heavy Manchester United fan who is refusing to get his hair cut until after Manchester United win five games in a row. It was an overly ambitious wheeze, given their extraordinary inability to even put two wins back-to-back. An already high barnet is about to get much higher.
89 min: Brentford substitution: Matthias Jensen on for Igor Thiago, who leaves to a standing ovation. We’ll have eight added minutes.
88 min: “It’s an absolute joke that Fernandes had to wait four minutes to take that penalty,” writes Joshua Keeling. “And it’s an even bigger joke that Collins wasn’t sent off. How was that not the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity?” While I suspect Joshua might be a United fan, as a neutral (albeit one who loves seeing United lose) I have to say it’s difficult to disagree with any of that.
87 min: We’re into the final three minutes of normal time but given all the substitutions and unadulterated tomfoolery in the VAR booth, I suspect there could be eight or nine minutes of added time.
86 min: Manchester United substitution: Mason Mount is on for Luke Shaw.
84 min: De Ligt slips in his own penalty area, falls over and handles the ball completely accidentally on his way to ground. Brentford fans appeal for a penalty but none is forthcoming. Patrick Dorgu is penalised and booked for a foul on Keane Lewis-Potter, giving Brentford a free-kick wide on the right. Sesko heads it clear.
82 min: Kevin Schade is booked for a professional foul on Cunha, then Brentford bring on Vitaly Janelt and Frank Onyeka for Damsgaard and Henderson.
80 min: It’s difficult to see how Andy Madley in the VAR bunker arrived at the conclusion that Nathan Collins should not have been sent off. The Brentford captain made no attempt to play the ball and in the process of tugging on Mbeumo’s shirt, denied him a clear goalscoring opportunity. Madley studied that for over three minutes and decided the referee was in fact correct in only giving Collins a yellow card. To be clear, I have no skin in this game but the whole process makes little or no sense.
78 min: Those Brentford substitutions: Rico Henry and Keane Lewis-Potter on for Hickey and Ouattara.
Bruno Fernandes misses the spot-kick!
Brentford get inside Fernandes’s head by making several substitutions before he can take the penalty. Over four minutes after it was awarded, the United skipper steps up and has his low shot saved by Kelleher.
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Penalty for Manchester United!
71 min: Nathan Collins tugs Bryan Mbeumo in the penalty area as he tries to sprint on to a pass from Dalot. Mbeumo screams and stretches out his arms like a seam bowler appealing for LBW, referee Craig Pawson has a think about it, blows his whistle and points to the spot. Collins is booked but there’s a very long VAR check to see if Collins should be sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity. He gets away with it despite VAR taking over three minutes to try to re-referee the game.
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69 min: It’s probably worth mentioning that the pass Dorgu was chasing as he was fouled by Ouattara was an outlandish rabona from Matheus Cunha, the Brazilian’s first contribution of note that I can remember in this match.
67 min: Ouattara fouls Dorgu and United have a free-kick wide on the left. Fernandes sends the ball drifting towards the edge of the Brentford penalty area, where the home side clear and break upfield.
65 min: Manchester United double-substitution: Leny Yoro and Kobee Mainoo on for Harry Maguire and Manuel Ugarte.
63 min: Schade outmuscles Dalot far too easily as the duo contest a ball sent through the left side of the penalty area. He squares it for Ouattara, whose low shot is saved by Bayindir. That’s a good stop down low to his left but I’m filing it in the drawer marked “missed sitters” because Ouattara had the goal at his mercy and should have given the United goalkeeper no chance.
61 min: Brentford win a free-kick in the centre-circle, which Hickey clips towards Collins. The Irishman wins the header and sends the ball towards the edge of the six-yard box, where Sepp van den Berg stretches every sinew but can only poke a weak effort into the waiting gloves of Altay Bayindir.
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59 min: Fernandes follows suit, latching on to a ball down the inside right and squaring it. Kelleher gets down to gather comfortably.
58 min: Oof! Bryan Mbeumo whips the ball across the face of the United goal but Partick Dorgu is unable to convert at the far post.
55 min: Bruno Fernandes is booked for a wild swing of his boot at Dango Ouattara. VAR take a look to see if it should be upgraded to a red but the United skipper gets away with a caution despite going in high on the Brentford winger.
53 min: Brentford win a free-kick wide on the left in a good position for a Matthijs De Ligt shove on somebody-or-other. The Dutchman protests his innocence at great length, even as the free-kick is being swung into the penalty are by Damsgaard. Patrick Dorgu clears.
51 min: Bryan Mbeumo advances down the right after latching on to Sesko flick-on and plays the ball inside to Matheus Cunha in a pocket of space outside the Brentford penalty area. His low shot is feeble and straight at Caoimhin Kelleher.
50 min: Brentford go on the attack again, with Henderson, Damsgaard and Ouattara linking up well before Manchester United win the ball back.
48 min: A terrified father, I hasten to add, who has heard all the practice sessions and is painfully aware the child in question can’t play the violin for toffee.
47 min: On the touchline, Ruben AMorim is pacing relentlessly, exuding all the calm of a terrified father watching his six-year-old child perform a solo violin recital at the school play.
47 min: Kayode’s delivery to the near post is gathered by Bayindir.
Brentford 2-1 Manchester United
46 min: The second half starts with Brentford on the ball and no changes in personnel on either side. Brentford immediately win a throw-in deep in Manchester United half. Over to you, Michael Kayode …
A quick recap: Brentford opened a two-goal lead, their first coming from an Igor Thiago surface-to-air screamer inside the near post after Jordan Henderson had sent him on his way with a superb delivery from deep. Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was forced to make three good saves before Brentford doubled their advantage, Thiago scoring his second on the follow-up after Bayinder had parried a Kevin Schade pull-back into his path.
With United all over the place and in a total panic, they somehow pulled a goal back when Benjamin Sesko scored at his third attempt after Caoimhin Kelleher failed to deal sufficiently with a cross under pressure from Bryan Mbeumo. The goal seemed to calm United’s very obvious jitters but they remain behind at the break in a thrilling game.
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Brentford 2-1 Manchester United
Half-time: The players troop off the pitch after a terrific start to the Premier League weekend. More, please.
45+4 min: Kayode gets the ball launched towards the near post from the touchline but Maguire is on hand to head it clear before it can reach Sepp van den Berg.
45+3 min: Kayode gifts possession to Luke Shaw, who puts the ball out for a Brentford throw-in with a dismal first touch.
45+2 min: We’re into four minutes worth of add-ons at the end of a tremendously entertaining, action-packed first half.
44 min: Another Kayode long throw. No, scrap that. With everyone expecting the right-back to slingshot another ball into the box, he plays this one short so Ouattara can whip in a cross instead. Aaron Hickey is unable to get his head to the ball.
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39 min: Manchester United get in on the long throw action but Diogo Dalot’s looping delivery into the Brentford box is headed away by Nathan Collins. I have a rhetorical question: why is Nathan Collins an ever-present rock for Brentford but a complete liability whenever he pulls on a Republic of Ireland shirt? Rhetorical answers on a postcard, please.
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37 min: Matheus Cunha sends Fernandes on his way and the United skipper advances towards the edge of the Brentford penalty area. His shot is blocked by Nathan Collins and goes out for a corner. Harry Maguire gets underneath the deep delivery to the far post but Brentford clear their lines. Better from United, but it’s a very low bar.
35 min: Michael Kayode takes another long throw towards the near post, where Harry Maguire heads it clear. It’s actually a shorter long throw than the longer long throws the Brentford full-back’s been throwing thus far.
33 min: In good news for Manchester United fans, I can reveal that Brentford have already lost eight points from winning positions in the Premier League so far this season. Since pulling a goal back, United have noticeably calmed down. They were running around like headless chickens after the opener went in.
32 min: Bryan Mbeumo gets warm applause from Brentford fans as he wanders across to take a corner, from which nothing comes. I look forward to seeing Alex Isak receiving a similarly effusive welcome upon his return to St James’ Park with Liverpool.
29 min: Sesko’s goal survives a VAR check, with Andy Madley presumably checking to see if the ball had crossed the byline before Dorgu crossed it or to see if Mbeumo (not Sesko as previously noted) fouled Kelleher as he tried to punch the ball clear. It’s as if the curtain-twitchers in Stockley Park are going out of their way to find reasons to chalk goals off.
GOAL! Brentford 2-1 Manchester United (Sesko 26)
United pull one back. Patrick Dorgu sends a cross to the far post and it’s only punched half-clear by Kelleher under pressure from Sesko. The Irish goalkeeper saves Sesko’s first header and then the follow-up but is powerless to stop the Slovenian scoring at the third attempt. Sesko rifles the bouncing ball into the back of the net to get off the mark for Manchester United.
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24 min: While it shouldn’t be a surprise that United are getting pummeled by Brentford, it somehow still is. Suffice to say that they have been diabolically bad thus far. Even worse than we’ve come to expect.
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GOAL! Brentford 2-0 Manchester United (Thiago 20)
Thiago scores his second! With United defending like a pub team, Brentford get the ball into the space behind Dalot, allowing Schade to advance to the byline and pull it across the face of goal. Bayindir can only parry it into the path of Thiago, who slots home on the follow-up from about five yards, despite the United goalkeeper getting a hand on his shot. If it sounds like Bayindir was at fault there, he wasn’t – such was the pace on Schade’s pullback, there was little else he could do. But for him, United would be four or five down already.
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17 min: A brilliant save by Bayindir! Brentford go close from another corner, with the Manchester United goalkeeper showing great reflexes to save a Sepp van den Berg bullet bullet header from close range. Moments later, he’s forced into action to make another good save from a decent Nathan Collins header. Manchester United are on the ropes already!
16 min: A Mikkel Damsgaard corner for Brentford is headed clear at the near post by Bruno Fernandes.
13 min: Hats off to Jordan Henderson, who sent that seven-iron from deep whistling into the sky towards the edge of the Manchester United penalty area for Thiago to chase. I was certain the Brentford striker had to be a mile offside but replays and the video assistant referee say otherwise.
On VAR, Andy Madley also had to check for a possible foul by Kayode on Diogo Dalot before the ball broke to Henderson but decided the challenge was fair and square. On the touchline, Ruben Amorim looked genuinely bereft when the goal was given.
The goal stands!!!
Yes, Brentford lead! It’s a splendid finish from Igor Thiago, who leaves Harry Maguire in his dust before sending a surface-to-air screamer into the top corner as Brentford broke on the counter. Latching on to a long, lofted ball from deep as he sprinted upfield, he controlled the ball and spanked it past Bayinder.
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Manchester United (Thiago 9)
Brentford lead! Or do they? I think Igor Thiago might have been offside as Brentford broke upfield on a lightning fast counter-attack. It’s tight.
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7 min: The Bees are swarming all over United’s players in these early stages, giving their visitors little or no time to settle on the ball.
5 min: Kevin Schade does well to keep the ball in play out by the touchline with Diogo Dalot breathing down his neck. He undoes his good work by giving it away once he’d created a couple of yardsof space in which to ping a pass.
4 min: Yup, the Italian trebuchet Delaps the ball straight into the Brentford six-yard box, where Altay Bayinder gathers it for Manchester United.
3 min: Harry Maguire puts the ball out of play for a Brentford throw-in deep in his own half. One suspects Michael Kayode will chuck it long …
1 min: Manuel Ugarte gets an early touch in midfield after coming in for the suspended Casemiro, but Brentford win possession back moments later. Michael Kayode gets on the ball.
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Brentford v Manchester United is go ...
1 min: Bryan Mbeumo does the honours as Manchester United get the ball rolling, their players wearing black shirts, yellow shorts and yellow socks.
Not long now: Referee Craig Pawson and his assistants lead both sets of players out on to the Gtech Stadium pitch, with Nathan Collins and Bruno Fernandes skippering the sides. Kick-off in west London is just a couple of minutes away.
Some more correspondence: “Lose today and it’s going to be impossible to make an argument against sacking Amorim,” writes Dave Estherby. “He’s done a lot wrong and not much right since he came but paying just south of £20m for a goalkeeper to replace two accidents waiting to happen, then starting one of said accidents ahead of him in every game since has got eff-up written all over it.”
I think you’re being a bit harsh on Tom Heaton there, if I’m honest. He kept a clean sheet in his sole 21-minute substitute appearance for Manchester United almost four years ago.
Some correspondence: “Peter Crouch stood behind Bayindir’s goal slagging him off while he warms up, on TNT,” writes John Potter. “The game’s gone.”
As somebody who has made no secret of the psychological difficulties he endured while being the subject of widespread and very public criticism at various points throughout his own playing career, I hope Crouchie at least had to good manners to lower his voice. We can but wonder if he’d be so vocal if … say, Emi Martinez was in said goal.
Ruben Amorim: Manchester United have the chance to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time on their Portuguese head coach’s watch, a remarkable state of affairs that was rasied at his press conference yesterday.
“These kind of games we need to be focused and have the feeling we will win every match,” he said. “It is really important and we talk about that in the end of the game. It is important to have that sense of urgency that we need to win no matter what. Every time you start to watch the next opponent you feel it is going to be really tough. The most important is to start the way we start against Burnley and Arsenal
“It is normal for the fans not to know what is going to happen. I have an idea but I don’t know, so the best way of dealing with that is that every game is the last one. We think the next game is going to be really important in a long time for Manchester United.”
Keith Andrews on the return of Bryan Mbeumo: Speaking ahead of the former Brentford’s winger return to the Gtech Community Stadium for the first time as a Manchester United player, the Brentford head coach said he expects Mbeumo to get a warm welcome from home fans but hopes his players won’t extend the same courtesy to their erstwhile teammate.
“Bryan epitomises everything good about this football club,” Andrews said. “He was given time, patience and support, and I think the way it went last year was the culmination of that six-year journey where so many people in that building played a part in his development. I know for a fact he really appreciates that and he appreciates the fans.
“Bryan rightly should get a really good reception. Having said that, I don’t want us to give him a nice reception on the pitch. Yes, we know all about him, all his qualities We’re very aware of what a good player is and we’ll help hopefully try to nullify that by making it an afternoon he doesn’t enjoy.”
Keith Andrews on his Brentford rebuild: “We are forming a new team,” said the Dubliner in yesterday’s press conference. “There’s been a lot of change at the football club, myself included. We’re making steps, and sometimes those steps are in the direction we want. I think you have to accept that. You have to understand that.
“It’s really important for me to maintain the type of environment that’s been created here, where players can develop. We put internal pressure on ourselves. We don’t particularly need the external pressure to fuel anything from within. I think there’s that intrinsic motivation as an individual and all to be collectively, to be the best versions of ourselves. And that’s not always going to be perfect.”
Today’s match officials
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistants: Lee Betts and Mat Wilkes
Fourth official: Ben Toner
VAR: Andy Madley
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton
Graham Potter sacked by West Ham
In case you missed the not-entirely-surprising news that broke about an hour ago, Graham Potter has been relieved of his duties as West Ham head coach, with Nuno Espirito Santo reported to have agreed to take training this weekend ahead of their trip to Goodison Park to face Everton on Monday night. If there’s a silver lining for Potter, who leaves his role after just nine months, he’ll now have time to catch up on all those social media face-swap memes he claimed to have not yet seen yesterday. Read on …
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Those teams: Knowing how wedded his opposite number is to a 3-4-3 system not even Pope Leo XIV could force him to get a divorce, Keith Andrews looks to have switched to a back four with a line-up that features two changes from the side that lost against Fulham. Aaron Hickey is in at left-back, making his first start for Brentford since October 2023. Dango Ouattara also starts on the left wing, while Ethan Pinnock and Keane Lewis-Potter make way.
Ruben Amorim makes three changes to the side that beat Chelsea last weekend, all of them enforced. With Casemiro suspended, Manuel Ugarte comes into the centre of midfield, while Diogo Dalot is in for the injured Noussair Mazraoui. Matheus Cunha starts in place of Amad Diallo, who is at home on compassionate leave. Altay Bayindir continues in goal for United, preferred to both Tom Heaton and Senne Lammens, who are among the substitutes.
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Brentford v Manchester United line-ups
Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Hickey; Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard; Ouattara, Schade, Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Onyeka, Milambo, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Janelt.
Manchester United: Bayindir, Dalot, De Ligt, Maguire, Shaw, Dorgu; Ugarte, Fernandes; Mbeumo, Cunha, Sesko.
Subs: Heaton, Lammens, Fredricson, Heaven, Leon, Yoro, Mainoo, Mount, Zirkzee.
Early team news
Brentford winger Gustavo Nunes and midfielder Paris Maghoma are both recovering from hamstring injuries and have been ruled out of today’s game. Both players will have to wait to make their debuts for the club they joined in the summer.
The daft red card Casemiro picked up for two needless bookings against Chelsea means the Brazilian will have to sit this match out through suspension but Diogo Dalot has been passed fit for selection after missing United’s past two games. Amad Diallo is absent due to a family bereavement, while Lisandro Martinez remains sidelined with a serious knee injury.
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Premier League: Brentford v Manchester United
Seeking their first win in eight top flight games away from homed, Manchester United travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to take on a Brentford side struggling to adapt after a summer of change from the top down. Tasked with filling the big boots vacated by Thomas Frank, rookie head coach Keith Andrews has got off to a reasonable start considering the churn of players at Brentford during a summer in which they also saw big name players such as Yoane Wissa, Christian Norgaard and Yoane Wissa leave the club.
Dropping points from winning positions has already become a problem for a side that has coughed up eight thus far from five games, but an optimist might argue that at least they’re getting into those winning positions in the first place. Bouncing back from last weekend’s defeat at Fulham with a win against struggling Manchester United would certainly help cement Andrews’ credentials as a somewhat worthy successor to Frank.
Taking their latest crack at notching up back-to-back league wins for the first time under Ruben Amorim, United arrive in west London on the back of last weekend’s narrow victory over Chelsea at Old Trafford, a result into which not too much can be read given the apocalyptic weather conditions, the early red card shown to Robert Sanchez and his head coach’s subsequent tactical meltdown. Still, a win is a win and if United if can secure another one, Amorim may ease some of the pressure he remains under. Kick-off at the Gtech is at 12.30pm but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
