A chaotic start and a costly miss: United sink 3-1 at Brentford

Manchester United left west London with a familiar feeling as a calamitous opening, a missed penalty and a stoppage-time concession added up to a 3-1 defeat at Brentford. Igor Thiago’s first-half double punished an unsure back line, Benjamin Sesko offered hope, and Bruno Fernandes’s 76th-minute spot-kick was saved after a long VAR delay.

The quest for back-to-back league wins under Ruben Amorim remains unfulfilled. United are winless in eight away league games, back in the bottom half, and their league ledger under Amorim reads W9 D7 L17—34 points from 33—figures that framed the inquest.

Twenty-five minutes that told the story

Amorim had begged for an aggressive start after edging Chelsea. Instead, United were loose and passive. The first goal exposed the fault lines: after Matheus Cunha failed to win a foul upfield, Jordan Henderson launched long; Harry Maguire’s offside step was mistimed and Igor Thiago ran into acres, letting the ball bounce, nodding it into stride and lashing into the near top corner.

The second compounded the damage. A long ball was not dealt with, Matthijs de Ligt and Maguire hesitated, Thiago shifted it left to Kevin Schade and the winger’s low cross was parried into danger by Altay Bayindir for Thiago to tap in. Micah Richards called the defending ‘shambolic’ and argued the 3-4-2-1 ‘hampered’ players unsure of their positions, with wing-back spaces repeatedly exposed.

Sesko’s first for United offers a lifeline

United were given a foothold in the 26th minute. Patrick Dorgu looped a cross to the far post, Caoimhín Kelleher twice denied Benjamin Sesko at close range under pressure from Bryan Mbeumo, and the ball finally broke for Sesko to convert—his first since the £74m switch from RB Leipzig.

But the spark never truly caught. The tempo sagged, penetration was scarce and, from the away end, came the plea: ‘Attack, attack, attack.’ Brentford still fashioned the clearer chances—Sepp van den Berg almost reaching a Nathan Collins header and Bayindir needing to produce an excellent save to thwart Thiago.

The penalty that had to go in

When Collins dragged Mbeumo down on 76 minutes, it felt like the game’s hinge. A four-to-five minute VAR review for a possible red card ended with a booking only, the Premier League judging Mbeumo was not in control of the ball—an outcome Amorim disagreed with.

After the wait, Fernandes went low to the goalkeeper’s right. Kelleher read it and saved—Fernandes’s second penalty failure in west London this season after the miss at Fulham. The chance to rescue momentum was gone.

All-out attack, late concession, and the questions piling up

Amorim went for broke: Kobbie Mainoo came on to partner Fernandes, Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount were introduced, Mbeumo moved to right wing-back and Mount to the left. It was total attack and total risk, leaving no defensive bone in midfield and scant protection for a rattled back line.

Brentford sealed it in stoppage time when Mathias Jensen stepped forward and drove a swerving shot from outside the box through Bayindir’s hands. The winless away run hit eight, and the debate sharpened around Amorim’s refusal to change a system that again left spaces, asked defenders to gamble and, when the big moment came from the spot, could not take it.