MANCHESTER, England — Scott McTominay discovered a solution for Manchester United in opposition to Brentford on Saturday, however the questions are mounting for supervisor Erik ten Hag.
McTominay got here on after 87 minutes with United 1-0 down and scored within the 93rd and 97th minutes to safe a 2-1 win and blow the roof off Outdated Trafford. Ten Hag punched the air and McTominay sank to his knees as United gave followers one among their well-known late thrives and the stadium descended into bedlam.
Ten Hag, little doubt, will enjoyment of watching the ultimate minutes when he involves analyse the sport in his Carrington workplace subsequent week, however the different 90 may make him wince.
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This was just like the 1-0 residence defeat to Crystal Palace every week in the past, besides Palace managed to outlive United’s late strain and this time Brentford collapsed. Fairly why Bryan Mbeumo determined to deliberately deal with the ball with the rating at 1-1 and provides Bruno Fernandes the possibility to throw a protracted free kick into the field for McTominay’s last-gasp winner is anybody’s guess.
Ten Hag will not be complaining. Judging by this efficiency, he wants all the assistance he can get. Simply minutes earlier than the miraculous turnaround, the Brentford followers had been singing, “You are getting sacked within the morning.”
“It needs to be a turning level but additionally a restart as a result of we now have to get into greater ranges,” Ten Hag mentioned after the match. “The spirit is sweet, the assumption is sweet and the staff is collectively. We now have proven that, we now have proven robust character. It may be a turning level however it’s as much as us.
“We had some alternatives after which the identical story once more, we conceded a objective on a decisive second, completely the unsuitable determination. Two or three gamers. We began and we weren’t in formation, a simple giveaway and it sums up our season. Such simple giveaways, you get punished in high soccer. We now have too good gamers to behave like this.”
For the sixth time in 11 video games this season, United conceded the primary objective due to defending so dangerous it was like one thing from an elaborate comedy sketch.
First, Casemiro needlessly gave the ball away in midfield after which missed his deal with to win it again. Victor Lindelöf, who regarded uncomfortable as a makeshift left-back alongside a centre-back pair of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans, scuffed his clearance within the penalty. When Mathias Jensen’s weak shot lastly arrived, it squeezed beneath André Onana’s proper hand.
It acquired so dangerous that halfway by way of the primary half, Onana stopped making an attempt to play out from the again and as an alternative began pumping lengthy balls as much as Rasmus Højlund. The Denmark striker, robust and aggressive at centre-forward, was the one United participant to emerge from the primary half with any credit score and at half-time Ten Hag determined he’d seen sufficient of Casemiro and introduced on Christian Eriksen in his place.
“These video games give gas to the dressing room,” Ten Hag mentioned. “They understand how far they should go to get outcomes. It may well’t be simple going. In soccer it’s eat or get eaten. Too many instances within the first half of this season we acquired eaten by opponents who’re extra hungry. This cannot be. It has to go away. Each participant has to ship that in each second he’s on the pitch. That’s the demand, the usual. Once you do this, we now have seen final season you get a decided staff. We weren’t all the time decided each time in video games, and also you get hammered for it. This has to alter.”
Casemiro appears to be like a shadow of the participant who was so influential final season, however he is not alone in his battle to seek out some kind. For the third sport in a row, Marcus Rashford was substituted early.
Identical to throughout the defeat to Palace, the England striker was sacrificed halfway by way of the second half regardless of United desperately needing a objective. This time, he was changed after 63 minutes having had only one significant effort, when Thomas Strakosha — making his Premier League debut in objective — acquired down low to save lots of at his close to publish.
Rashford was United’s greatest attacking participant final season, scoring 30 targets in all competitions, nevertheless it’s reaching the purpose the place there’s little argument to maintain him within the staff on the expense of Alejandro Garnacho.
There might be extra questions, too, about Onana’s place after the Cameroon goalkeeper conceded one other objective he ought to have saved. After contributing to Casemiro’s pink card in opposition to Galatasaray with a horrible cross into midfield, he was at fault for the Brentford objective that acquired the guests so near their first win at Outdated Trafford since 1937.
It checked out first look that Jensen’s shot had curled into the nook, however the replays confirmed that Onana had tried to bat the ball away along with his proper hand and acquired it horribly unsuitable. He redeemed himself barely with two good saves late on, however Turkey worldwide Altay Bayindir — signed from Fenerbahce over the summer time — can be forgiven for sitting on the bench questioning what has to occur for him to get an opportunity.
McTominay, who has solely began two video games this season, has performed every little thing he can to verify he will get a possibility when United resume after the worldwide break with a visit to Sheffield United. Ten Hag, in the meantime, has two weeks to ponder whether or not the dramatic finale in opposition to Brentford is an indication of higher days to return or temporary respite from the lingering storm.