Was this the attitude Cristiano Ronaldo demanded? Whatever about refusing to accept criticism, Manchester United’s new generation refused to accept anything other than victory. It was certainly the response, and the result, Ralf Rangnick and his team needed. On a night when they were often second best to Brentford, and mere days after Ronaldo gave such a pointed interview about the attitude of younger players, three of the club’s youth graduates scored to secure a crucial 3-1 win in the race for fourth. The table looks that bit better for United. The mood is that bit improved.
That’s the spirit of youth, that feels all the more special when another new academy player scores. The 19-year-old Anthony Elanga was no mere detail in adding to United’s long list of historic teenage goalscorers, though. He offered the most important moment of the game at Brentford Community Stadium, brilliantly improvising on a hopeful cross to give United a lead they scarcely deserved.
Neither he or the team looked back. They were instead racing away, especially for the two moments that clinched it. Mason Greenwood slid in the second on the break before substitute Marcus Rashford thrashed in to score his first goal since October. The angry nature of the finish made it seem like Rashford was proving a point.
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