Superb Bees bully abject Man United in surreal rout
Brentford (4) 4 Da Silva 10, Jensen 18, Mee 31, Mbeumo 35
Manchester United (0) 0
The Bees cashed in on an utter shambles of a United performance to send former hero Christian Eriksen and Ronaldo on their way with tails between their legs.
Eriksen was booed and taunted mercilessly throughout for his perceived betrayal in quitting the club that gave him a way back into football after his brush with calamity.
But that was just one of the many moments for home fans to savour on another unforgettable chapter in the rise of this ambitious club – a euphoric occasion to mark the beginning of the Gtech Community Stadium as it has now been renamed.
The tone was set so early on when Josh Da Silva took advantage of Ronaldo losing possession to advance and sent a routine low shot from 20 yards that the United keeper could have dropped a cap on.
Instead, he let it squirm home under him to nestle in the bottom corner – a howler akin to that famous Gary Sprake calamity which gifted Peter Houseman a goal for Chelsea in the 1970 FA Cup final.
And as if to prove this was no one-off aberration, de Gea then had another brain freeze, playing the ball out to Eriksen just as Danish team-mate Mathias Jensen was closing in on him. Jensen easily won the ball and rolled home.
Cue pandemonium in the baking hot stands.
United couldn’t cope with set piece routines either. Even the Bees' training ground moves were better than theirs. A corner floated deep to the far stick was headed back across goal by Ivan Toney and Ben Mee outmuscled Lisandro Martinez to bundle in his first of the campaign.
Moments later and it was a four, with a lightning breakaway fashioned by Jensen pinching the ball off Jadon Sancho. It ended with Toney’s dash down the left flank and perfectly-weighted ball for Bryan Mbeumo in the middle and the Frenchman easily held off Luke Shaw before burying it.
The ‘sacked in the morning’ jibes at Erik ten Hag were as predictable as United were abject.
But what an afternoon for the Bees. Uncomplicated, but with a plan. A team that knew what it wanted to do. Moving the ball calmly and with purpose. Looking everything United were not. The away side had more possession than them but did not have a clue how to make the most of it.
Ten Hag made changes at the interval – as he had to. But it did not amount to much. Certainly, the story of the match had already been well and truly written.
Ronaldo headed onto the roof of the net. Eriksen headed at David Raya and hooked a good left-foot chance wide. But even a consolation strike would not come for the troubled visitors.
‘You should have stayed with a big club,’ home fans chanted when Eriksen was subbed off near the end.
Second season syndrome for the Bees? Not when they have weaker teams like United in the same division.
Bees: (4-3-3) Raya – Hickey (Sorensen 80), Jansson, Mee, Henry – Roerslev, Norgaard (Onyeka 80), Jensen (Baptiste 74) – Mbeumo (Wissa 74), Toney, Dasilva (Janelt 62). Subs not used: Ghoddos, Onyeka, Stakosha, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Sorensen
United: (4-3-3) De Gea – Dalot, Maguire, Martinez (Varane h/t), Shaw (Malacia h/t) – Eriksen (Van de Beek 88), Fred (McTominay h/t), Bruno Fernandes – Sancho (Elanga 60), Ronaldo, Rashford. Subs not used: Heaton, Wan-Bissaka, Garner, Garnacho
