Ruben Amorim admitted in the build-up to Manchester United’s trip to Brentford that even he had no idea what kind of performance his side would put in—it’s fair to say the first 45 minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium would not have been what he wanted to see.
The Portuguese manager, who has been in charge for close to 11 months, has overseen a tenure dogged by mistakes and inconsistency, leading him to concede that United fans “don’t know what is going to happen in the next game,”—he followed that up by admitting “to be completely honest, I have an idea, but I don’t know how it’s going to be and I’m the manager of the team.”
Amorim’s idea wouldn’t have been to trail 2–0 against Brentford with just 20 minutes on the clock, but that’s exactly what he got as Igor Thiago scored a quick-fire brace to pour even more pressure onto the Red Devils.
Desperate Defending Leaves Amorim Despairing
United had been advancing towards Brentford’s penalty area when Matheus Cunha was dispossessed with a robust challenge. What followed was one of the easiest goals any Premier League side will score this season.
Jordan Henderson hoofed the ball and clear over the top, somehow finding Thiago in acres of space in United’s half. He controlled the ball smartly, advanced towards Altay Bayındır’s goal and rocketed a terrific left-footed shot into the back of the net via the post—the Turkish goalkeeper motionless as the ball flew past him.
Bayındır’s starting position for the ball over the top will be heavily scrutinised, but so will the defending of Harry Maguire. The only defender in United’s half when the ball was launched forward, he inexplicably allowed Thiago to be onside, with his body shape and weight completely wrong as Henderson pinged over the top.
He was left scampering back—Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw nowhere to be seen—but couldn’t do enough to put Thiago off.
If that defending wasn’t bad enough, United almost conceded twice more as Bayındır denied two headers from Sepp van den Berg and Nathan Collins—the Brentford central defenders under very little pressure as they rose highest on each occasion.
Minutes later, De Ligt was caught out by another long ball, and Thiago combined with Kevin Schade before the German’s pull back was flapped at by Bayındır and the former slotted reacted quicker than Luke Shaw to slide home. Amorim’s expression on the touchline said it all.
Sesko Scores First Man Utd Goal
Benjamin's first goal for United keeps us in it 💪 pic.twitter.com/f5exlZWmw4
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 27, 2025
The 4–0 defeat suffered by Erik ten Hag in August 2022 came flooding back into many people’s minds, with United again looking woefully inept. Luckily, they sprung into life to claw themselves back into the half.
Summer signing Benjamin Šeško needed three bites at the cherry to finally blast past Caoimhin Kelleher from close range, but the 22-year-old did eventually rifle into the back of the net to punish what had been some very weak goalkeeping from the Irishman—Bryan Mbeumo’s mere presence enough to make the former Liverpool stopper barely get a glove on Patrick Dorgu’s cross.
Cunha had an effort deflected wide as United ended the half in a more positive fashion, yet the tale of the tape after 45 minutes was how the 13-time Premier League winners had shot themselves in the foot once more with lackadaisacal, erratic defending. The goals conceded made it 52 goals conceded from Amorim’s 33 games in charge—far too many for a team who harbours any hope of finishing in the top half of the table let alone anything else.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chaotic Man Utd Give Ruben Amorim Headache Inducing 45 Minutes.
