Manchester United\u2019s defensive collapse at the Gtech Community Stadium left them trailing and ultimately defeated in a 3-1 loss to Brentford. An early unsettlement left United two goals down inside 20 minutes and the damage proved decisive. Mathias Jensen\u2019s late rocket compounded the visitors\u2019 misery and ensured Brentford sealed the win.<\/p>\n
There was an added subplot around Amorim. A win would have given him back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time and followed his successive home wins that included victory over Chelsea last weekend. Instead, Amorim watched his side\u2019s confidence evaporate as they were sliced open repeatedly in the opening stages, with the coach forced to assess how his team would respond.<\/p>\n
United fielded their new-look front three together for the first time this season. Over \u00a3200 million ($267.7 million) of talent led the line in west London. Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko reduced Brentford\u2019s lead and opened his account for his new employers, firing home from close range with his fifth attempt of the first 26 minutes. Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo both looked lively when receiving possession in pockets, and Cunha was United\u2019s leading attacking threat after the restart. A move down the right produced a cross that resulted in a penalty after Mbeumo was dragged to the turf. Bruno Fernandes was unable to convert from 12 yards for the second time this season.<\/p>\n
Set pieces and direct play proved United\u2019s undoing. Amorim had his side on extensive set-piece defence practice during the warm-up at the Gtech, but it had zero impact on United\u2019s ability to counter Brentford\u2019s direct approach. Long balls allowed Thiago to net an early brace, with even the aerially dominant Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire overpowered. Michael Kayode\u2019s long throws and Mikkel Damsgaard\u2019s corner deliveries repeatedly tested United, forcing Altay Bay\u0131nd\u0131r into action between the home side\u2019s first-half strikes.<\/p>\n
The defeat leaves United 12th in the Premier League and they could finish Gameweek 6 as low as 17th. The defensive issues will demand answers as the season progresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United’s defensive frailty cost them at the Gtech; Fernandes missed a penalty; Jensen finished late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[728,179],"tags":[317,342,260],"class_list":["post-3147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brentford","category-manchester-united","tag-benjamin-sesko","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-bryan-mbeumo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}