Anthony Elanga and Mason Greenwood gave Manchester United a fairly undeserved win away at Brentford on Wednesday night.
To their credit, United did significantly improve in the second-half after an opening forty-five minutes that saw David De Gea called into action on numerous occasions as wave after wave of Brentford attack engulfed the United goal.
As good as De Gea was, however, Mathias Jensen should probably have scored, particularly when found free in the box after a searing counter halfway through the opening 45 minutes.
Still, as unconvincing as United were before the break, their improvement after half-time was noteworthy.
While the manner of their goals were somewhat akin to the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era in terms of relying on induvial brilliance over much in the way of complex patterns, Ralf Rangnick’s team talk did appear to prevent his side from being overrun in midfield.
From that solid base, Fred’s stunning pass for Anthony Elanga saw the away side open the scoring before a wonderfully improvised Cristiano Ronaldo flick set Bruno Fernandes away before he squared to Greenwood.
Marcus Rashford, who was brought on for Ronaldo which duly sent the latter into open complaint, then added a third with a powerful finish at the near post following another Fernandes assist.
By the time Ivan Toney bundled in to pull one back for the home side, United’s individual quality had made a late comeback an impossible task.
