Manchester United held on to beat Brentford 2-1 Old Trafford on Monday, nearly guaranteeing UEFA Champions League qualification in the process.
Bruno Fernandes recorded his 19th Premier League assist of the season, one off the record shared by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry, as Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko scored their ninth and 10th goals of the PL season in the win.
Advertisement
WATCH — Manchester United v Brentford full match replay
The Red Devils move into sole possession of third place with 61 points, three clear of Liverpool and Aston Villa with four matches left in the Premier League season.
Keith Andrews got a good performance from his Bees and a quality late goal from Mathias Jensen in the loss. Brentford stall in ninth place with 48 points.
More to come…
Manchester United vs Brentford live updates — by Nick Mendola
Manchester United vs Brentford final score: 2-1
Casemiro 11′, Benjamin Sesko 43′, Mathias Jensen 88′
Man United sub
Joshua Zirkzee replaces Sesko after the goal.
Advertisement
Mathias Jensen goal — Manchester United 2-1 Brentford
The midfielder has been up for this all afternoon and now he’s beaten a slightly-slow-to-react Senne Lammens with a delightful strike from outside the 18.
Subs for both sides
Reiss Nelson takes the place of Kevin Schade in the 73rd minute, while Shaw exits for Leny Yoro and ex-Brentford man Mbeumo is done in favor of Mason Mount.
Bees nearly pull within one
A corner flicks to the back post and Dango Ouattara grounds the ball off the post!
His overhead bid to get the rebound catches Maguire and it looks like the former captain has joined Luke Shaw in picking up an injury on the play.
Advertisement
Shaw may be the more likely to come out of the game.
Man United sub at the break
Diallo’s day ends and Noussair Mazraoui will take his spot as the Red Devils seek to lock down all three points.
Halftime — Manchester United 2-0 Brentford
It says something that Amad Diallo and Igor Thiago could both have a brace but neither has a goal — weird, weird half.
Shots are 8-6 for the Red Devils, who have put five of their attempts on target and deserve to be ahead (though the two-goal gap is a bit of a surprise).
Benjamin Sesko goal — Manchester United 2-0 Brentford
Amad Diallo starts a counter attack with a slide tackle and Bruno Fernandes leads a 3v2 break that seems to indicate an open Bryan Mbeumo on his right.
Advertisement
Fernandes, instead, keeps the ball and waits until the perfect time to give it to Sesko on his left. The striker avoids a sliding blocker and slots past Kelleher.
All Brentford
Igor Thiago is knocking on the door, denied once by himself, another time by Ayden Heaven, and third time by Senne Lammens.
Bees doing everything but scoring, and they trail 1-0 in the 39th minute.
Casemiro goal — Manchester United 1-0 Brentford
Bruno Fernandes corner flies over most of the players and is headed back across goal by Maguire.
Casemiro cranes his neck from a tight angle, dodging a Michael Kayode challenge to nod through the arms of Kelleher.
Advertisement
A deserved lead in the 11th minute.
More than half of the ball over the line
Another chance for United off a corner, and Harry Maguire threatens to pot his latest header goal.
Caoimhin Kelleher reacts so well to slap the ball away from fully crossing the line.
0-0, 9′.
Wow moment ends wide
Kobbie Mainoo dances into the final third and the box, cutting to the front of the goal and laying to Amad Diallo for what looked certain the be a second-minute goal.
But Diallo’s shot across goal clatter into the calf of a perhaps-unwitting Sepp van den Berg and the ball goes out for a corner.
That ends with Luke Shaw lashing over the goal.
Advertisement
Intrigue on the bench
Matheus Cunha misses out with a minor injury so Shea Lacey may get some time as Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount are the other attack-minded options (fullback Patrick Dorgu likes to get forward, too).
Kaye Furo, Romelle Donovan, Joshua Dasilva, and Reiss Nelson are Bees attackers hoping to get involved in the fray off the bench.
Manchester United lineup
Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Heaven, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes, Diallo, Mbeumo, Sesko
Brentford lineup
Kelleher, Lewis-Potter, Collins, Van den Berg, Kayode, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard, Schade, Ouattara, Thiago
Manchester United vs Brentford preview — by Joe Prince-Wright
Manchester United host Brentford at Old Trafford on Monday knowing a win basically guarantees UEFA Champions League qualification.
Advertisement
WATCH — Manchester United v Brentford
Michael Carrick’s side won 1-0 at Chelsea last weekend and that was particularly impressive as they were missing so many key players in defense. United sit in third in the Premier League table and if they win against Brentford they will go 11 points clear of sixth-place Brighton with four games to go. A top five spot, which secures Champions League qualification, would basically be sewn up with a few games to spare.
But Brentford are chasing European qualification themselves as first-year coach Keith Andrews aims to make history and take the Bees into Europe for the first time in club history. Brentford drew 0-0 against Fulham last weekend and have drawn five games in a row. A win at Man United would take Brentford up to sixth in the table with four games to go and Europe would be within reach.
Manchester United team news, focus
Matthijs de Ligt is still out injured with a back issue but the Dutch defender is back in training, while fellow center back Lisandro Martinez is suspended. Harry Maguire will be back from his suspension so will start at center back and Leny Yoro has a late fitness test. Patrick Dorgu will return from injury soon, while former Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo is back fit and ready to face the team he joined United from last summer. Bruno Fernandes has been in exceptional form for United, while Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo will look to dictate the tempo of the game from midfield and unleash Matheus Cunha, Mbeumo and Amad Diallo on the counter.
Advertisement
Brentford team news, focus
The Bees are without Fabio Carvalho, Antoni Milambo, Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva, Jordan Henderson, Kaye Furo and Vitaly Janelt through injury. True to their identity and playing style, Brentford will look to keep it nice and tight defensively and then play on the counter with Igor Thiago, Kevin Schade and Dango Ouattara a real handful on the break. Set pieces will also be hugely important and Michael Kaydoe’s long throws generally cause chaos.
Manchester United vs Brentford prediction
This should be a fun one as both teams chase their goal of European qualification. Expect counter attacks galore and plenty of goals. Manchester United 3-2 Brentford.
How to watch Manchester United vs Brentford live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Monday (April 27)
Venue: Old Trafford — Manchester
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch on USA
Read the full article here