Thiago and Brentford put Man United to the sword at the Gtech yet again on Mbeumo's sorry return

Lunchtime showdown : Picture by @YTJourno

Premier League

Brentford (2) 3 Igor Thiago 8, 20, Jensen 90+5

Manchester United (1) 1 Sesko 26

Igor Thiago enjoyed his best day for the Bees with a double to take his tally to five in seven games as the Gtech once again marvelled at the sight of its home heroes getting the better of their illustrious opponents.

It is the third time in five seasons Bees fans have enjoyed victories that could only have been dreamt of not so long ago. They survived a fightback of sorts as Benjamin Sesko halved the lead and it needed a penalty save to deny Bruno Fernandes an equaliser but an injury time goal from Mathias Jensen gave the scoreline the gloss it deserved.

It was hardly the homecoming Bryan Mbeumo envisaged and along with his team-mates, he endured a torrid afternoon. The warm greetings he received from former Bees team-mates before kick-off were as good as it got for him.

The Bees had a dream start when Jordan Henderson repeated his assist from the recent Chelsea game with a long ball forward that Thiago sprinted on to and spectacularly lashed left-footed into the top corner.

Having got their noses in front, the confidence visibly rose. Sepp van den Berg and Nathan Collins both almost got the better of Altay Bayindir with headers that the Turk had to palm over the bar. Long throws from Michael Kayode caused mayhem.

Thiago doubled the advantage when he bundled in from close range after Bayindir could only palm a Kevin Schade shot across the face of goal. The 24-year-old Brazilian has big shoes to fill after Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Mbeumo, but he has made a decent enough start.

"Bryan, Bryan, what's the score ?" crowed happy Bees fans at Mbeumo.

As with Christian Eriksen, who returned to the Gtech with new club Man United to receive a 4-0 battering, there was another airing of "You should have stayed with a big club".

There was not too much time to gloat, though, as Sesko soon pulled a goal back, smashing home from close range after two attempts had been blocked. Both sides looked vulnerable at the back and it was making for a tasty spectacle.

While almost any outcome looked possible after that, the Bees held sway in midfield, with Mikel Damsgaard and Henderson keeping the prospect of a third home goal on the boil. They looked the more motivated side too - chasing and harassing well. Out of possession they hunted down opponents diligently.

When Schade scampered to the byline to outflank a sloppy United rearguard, only a low dive from Bayindir kept out Dango Ouattara's first-time sweep.

The failure to put that away might have proved costly when Matheus Cunha's low cross into the middle ended with Nathan Collins tugging at Mbeumo to prevent the Cameroonian from getting a clear strike. Ref Craig Pawson pointed to the spot.

There followed a lengthy delay as subs were made and VAR was checked and when Fernandes finally stepped forward to take it, his kick proved too close to Caoimhin Keller, who moved left to save the kick.

A breakaway finale goal for sub Jensen was the logical result of Bees players winning turnovers all over the pitch and repeatedly swarming forward in numbers.

The Bees are in the midst of a challenging run of home matches, with United's visit preceded by the derby with Chelsea and with home games against Man City and Liverpool to follow next month.

They will know a lot more about the season's direction of travel over the next few weeks but maybe we already do. Today was surely a healthy sign that Keith Andrews' team have it in them to survive the summer loss of Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Chris Norgaard and Thomas Frank. This felt like a really important win for both the fledgling boss and his charges.

Bees: (4-2-3-1) Kelleher - Kayode, Collins, van den Berg, Hickey (Henry 75) - Henderson (Onyeka 81), Yarmoliuk - Ouattara (Lewis-Potter 75), Damsgaard (Janelt 81), Schade - Igor Thiago (Jensen 90)

United: (3-4-2-1) Bayindir - de Light, Maguire (Mainoo 66), Shaw (Mount 80) - Diogo Dalot, Ugarte (Yoro 66), Fernandes, Dorgu (Zirkzee 85) - Mbeumo, Cunha - Sesko

Attendance: 17,193