With a famous victory in sight, substitute, Scott McTominay, who only entered the field of play with moments remaining, manages to find the back of the net. Twice. In the 93rd and 97th minute of the six added on at the end of regulation time. The most brutal of endings in this theatre of bad dreams and one all the more painful given the hosts had seen an 88th minute equaliser denied them by VAR.
Sadly, it was anything but a bout of the night terrors. Instead, it was the most brutal of wake-ups as reality kicked in and, with it, the reminder that The Bees had come so close to a most wonderful three points yet ended up empty-handed. Manchester United had celebrated like they’d won the FA Cup and even finished the game with a lap of honour.
A reality that was further reinforced by the Sunday treat of watching Match Of The Day on the iplayer. If for no other reason to try and understand how a last gasp free kick just inside the half-way line that resulted in their winner (for an apparent foul by Bryan Mbeumo on Diogo Dalot), was awarded. I’ve still no idea.
There was barely time to restart before referee Andy Madley wrapped it up. Had the Bees defence, which had been magnificent all game, manged to repel one last ball in to the box we’d be talking about ‘only’ taking a frustrating point. Joking that ‘it’s Brentford, innit?’ but deep down satisfied with an away draw, even though we’d held the lead since Mathias Jensen’s well hit effort deceived Andre Onana just 26 minutes in to the game.
Instead, it was the harshest of endings. Ever. That sickening numbness in the pit of the stomach that is only truly felt in a relegation or missed play-off opportunity.
Onana redeemed himself twice late on – Maupay and Norgaard both coming close – before the ultimate sucker punch 1-2 combo. It not so much broke Brentford hearts as tore them into a million tiny pieces and then threw them out with the rubbish.
It was an ending all the more painful given The Bees had gone into this one with the starting XI looing even more patched up than ever. Keane Lewis Potter joined an injury list that is starting to look like a particular gory episode of Casualty whilst Mark Flekken was also absent. Taken ill in the morning, according to Brentford ‘official’.
In his place, Thomas Strakosha was drafted in for a baptism of fire debut at this level. He grew into it and looked confident in his decision making to claim the high ball although the preference for parrying shots rather than falling on them had alarm bells ringing. It was to prove our ultimate undoing as a ball pushed to the side was only cleared short to McTominay who made no mistake in levelling things up.
Had that ball been hoofed upfield, or stopped first time, it would have been a different story for Brentford. Instead, the already building pressure cranked up a notch and with Mr Madley awarding that final free kick, the dam broke. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory deep into Fergie time after what had been an otherwise wonderful showing in the toughest of environments.
I can’t whinge. Football is a 90 minute game as we have said so many times. Concentration to the max until the final whistle blows. Chances needing to be taken when they arrive. With the rejigged Manchester United defence looking woeful at times, perhaps we might even have been further ahead rather than having to rely on the defence for such huge swathes of the game.
Just like plucky performance and brave heroics, should woulda coulda counts for nothing if you can’t hold on. Alas, Brentford couldn’t manage it on this occasion but, looking ahead, it was another game where huge positives can be taken from the vast majority of the performance.
The trick from this point is that we don’t get sucked in to a self-pitying mindset given the combination of injuries + heartache. Taking every game as it comes is up there with the most repeated of football clichés but is, perhaps, truer than ever.
Dwell on it for 24 hours then banish the pain forever. Look forward to some squad recovery time over the break before the visit of Burnley in a fortnight.
For now we need to look at the top five performances and our quest to find the overall player of the season. Five points being awarded for every ‘star player’ award, four for second place, three for third etc and then the totals counted up over the course of the 38 games.
2023-24 Brentford Player Ratings from Matchweek 8 (vs Manchester United)
1st (Star Player: 5 points) – Ethan Pinnock
I’d go so far as to say that this was one of Ethan’s best ever games in a Brentford shirt. He was utterly dominant. A captain in everything but name, bigging up his backline throughout. Holding them together to repel wave after wave of attacking intent for so long.
In a game where the build-up had been so dominated by talk of holes in the Manchester United defence, at the other end Ethan was giving a masterclass head and shoulders above anybody else on the pitch. Rasmus Højlund may have scored a brace during United’s midweek Champions League game with Galatasary but he spent this one in Ethan’s backpocket.
Every time United cranked up the pressure, Ethan was there and under it. There and blocking it. His body shape and timing simply perfect. One period about twenty minutes in saw him make four successive interceptions to stifle United’s danger. There was more of the same throughout.
If Bees fans are feeling the pain this morning, imagine what Ethan must be going through. He was simply wonderful and gave a performance that warranted so much more than being overshadowed by a game that will be remembered for the cruellest of endings.
2nd (4 points) – Kris Ajer
Kris hit our top five against Forest last time out and was named TV’s player of the match in that one. Saturday saw another huge performance from the right sided defender.
If anything, it was his work pushing up that gave the Brentford team more attacking dynamic than we could have possibly expected. His overlapping with Mads Roerslev down the right (reminiscent of Hickey/KLP on the left last week) exposed United’s much touted frailties and deserved more. One run around the hour mark saw him able to break so high up the pitch, oxygen was required.
The image of him pumped about seeing a goal kick awarded in our favour late on showed just how much this one had meant. How hard he and the team had worked to nullify a never ending stream of international players and household names coming off the bench to try their luck.
In the end, Brentford fell just short but that wasn’t through lack of trying from Kris and the team.
3rd (3 points) – Mathias Jensen
Yes, Mathias scored the goal but there was way more to his game than bamboozling the hapless Onana. His performance, first half especially, was delicious. Christian Eriksen, watching on from the bench, being shown by his former club mate just how to dominate that area.
Whether pushing through the middle or spreading out to our right as The Bees drove forward, Mathias was at the heart of everything. Despite being one of five Bees’ players shown the yellow card compared to a baffling none for the opposition (Martial alone, for his service to diving, surely should have had his name taken) he maintained his focus and composure throughout.
Another top, top showing from a player whose value to this team is increasing exponentially game on game.
4th (2 points) – Mads Roerslev
So Mads, like the majority, had a rough time against Everton but was back to his very best here. Like Kris, his work going forwards was vital to maintaining patched-up Brentford’s balance.
Whatever people may demand, we don’t have a squad full to the brim of regular international players competing in every position. Our cause has been hugely hampered by a raft of injuries and the inability to recruit until January (even if we wanted to) given the transfer window. As such, it is even more incumbent on those who remain healthy to play their part.
I thought Mads did this magnificently, the first half in particular. United weren’t given a look in whilst The Bees pushed up in style. This was largely through the interplay of Ajer and Roerslev with the likes of Wissa, Mbeumo and Jensen. Yet these two were the catalysts. They were the constants.
5th (1 point) – Vitaly Janelt
In my opinion, fifth place was a direct shoot-out between Christian Norgaard and Vitaly. Both bossed the defensive midfield area and whilst the Dane came close to scoring on a couple of instances, Vitaly very much played the role of unsung hero. Moreso given he ended up riding the gauntlet of Mr Madley and his one-sided booking system.
For all Ethan Pinnock took the defensive headlines, quite rightly, Vitaly was there time and again with that first interception. That primary block or challenge to stop the ball from even being played in to the box.
Surprisingly, this is only his first point in our ‘top five’ this season given his importance to the team. Something that was underlined at Old Trafford on Saturday.
2023-24 Brentford Player Ratings – Top 5 Players Overall (after Matchweek 8)
All of which means that the top five remain the same as last week, although Ethan Pinnock and Mathias Jensen both pull further away from the chasing pack.
1st – Ethan Pinnock (21 points)
2nd – Mathias Jensen (17 points)
T3rd – Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard (12 points)
5th – Nathan Collins (10 points)
Follow Nick on Twitter @NickBruzon.
