TASTY NACHO
Man Utd 2 Brentford 1: Hojlund and Garnacho stage comeback to ease Ten Hag pressure after controversial Pinnock goal
Red Devils roar back after fury at Bees opener
IT took a bang on the head to give them a kick up the backside and drag Erik ten Hag back from the brink at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag was plummeting towards more Manchester United mayhem after a hugely controversial call from referee Sam Barrott helped Brentford to a half-time lead.
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Yet it also finally fired up a lethargic United, who hit back with second-half strikes from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund to nick the points.
Goals that may also prove vital in easing some of the pressure on under-fire Ten Hag, who would have faced a whole new world of trouble had the Reds crashed once again.
And boy, didn’t he look to be heading there after an incredible moment when referee Barrott left United a man light on the brink of the break by sending Matthijs de Ligt to the sideline.
De Ligt had suffered an earlier head wound, which had reopened, and the official was perfectly within his rights to do so.
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Even if his timing – with Brentford waiting to take a corner - was anything but perfect.
Barrott was certainly taking a punt… and wouldn’t you just know it, when Christian Damsgaard swung over the corner, Ethan Pinnock rose unopposed to power it in.
On the touchline Ten Hag – hardly a man given to arm-swinging, foot-stamping shows of emotion – kicked off so much that he was immediately booked.
So, too, was right hand man Ruud Van Nistelrooy alongside him, who was equally enraged at the decision.
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Which makes it two yellow cards in two games for the former Dutch striker, by the way. He’ll end the season with more than in his playing days, at this rate.
Yet as furious as the United players, staff and fans may have been, and as much an asking-for-trouble call it was by the ref, it does miss a couple of hugely salient points.
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Firstly, why on earth did doctor Jim Moxon, physio Jordan Reece and the rest of the medical team send De Ligt back on if he wasn’t properly patched up in the first place.
It’s not as though they hadn’t had a couple of chances to do so. First, when he initially went down after being felled in a tenth minute collision with Kevin Schade.
Then again midway through the half when he went off to have the damage reassessed after it began showing signs of leakage.
So there should not have been an issue, a possibility, of another bang reopening the cut if it had been stitched and sealed right originally. It simply wouldn’t have started gushing again.
Last week Hull KR skipper Elliott Minchella played the bulk of the Super League Grand Final with a heavily bandaged head, after an early clash had the claret dripping.
In a far rougher, far more brutal collision sport than football – yet Minchella got through it with no issues. Why couldn’t United’s medics manage the same with De Ligt?
And even aside of that, was his absence really to blame for Pinnock having the room to power his header past Andre Onana? Would he genuinely have made all the difference?
Is it honestly expecting too much for ten United players to defend one corner? Given some of De Ligt’s powder-puff performances this term, you would probably argue otherwise.
Try telling that to Ten Hag and Co right then, though. Convinced United had been properly stitched up all because de Ligt wasn’t! Call it the day irony died.
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Mind you, until they were left spitting the dummy and crying foul, precious little else looked like firing the Reds into producing a match-winning performance.
For the team which reappeared after the break was a million miles away from the one which had staggered and stuttered throughout a pretty dismal and dreary first half.
Well, a pretty mundane opening 45 minutes until referee Barrott lit the touchpaper with that “get-off-and-get-it-sorted” command to De Ligt.
Ninety seconds after the restart they were level, courtesy of Garnacho’s exquisite far post side-footed volley, after Marcus Rashford’s swinging cross.
And to think it was Brentford who had claimed the benchmark for quickfire openings, after rapid-fire goal-scoring kick offs in each of their last four games.
Yet once United were level yesterday, you never really expected any other outcome than a home victory. On 63 minutes it was a giant stride closer, too.
A glorious moment for Hojlund, the striker so in need of a Premier League goal, and also for Bruno Fernandes, the engine room wizard whose magic had gone missing.
Christian Eriksen paved the way by drilling a pass to skipper Fernandes – who set Hojlund haring in on goal with the most magnificent of disguised flicks.
The United hitman may have had a solitary Europa League strike to his name all season, but you’d never have guessed, given the keep-his-cool dink over Mark Flekken to score.
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Another huge slice – or should that be rasher – of irony in his sizzling moment, too, you have to admit.
If anyone was going to save Ten Hag’s bacon, perhaps it was written in the stars he would be Danish.
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