Man Utd keep top 4 hopes alive

SOCCER

Brentford ............................ 1 Manchester United ............ 3

LONDON – Manchester United got back to winning ways in the Premier League after defeating Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday evening.

United’s line-up from their 2-2 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday had Cristiano Ronaldo back from an injury lay-off, with Scott McTominay also recalled after serving a suspension.

Brentford hoped to register first on nine minutes from a ball into space by Christian Norgaard though after going clear, he watched David De Gea’s outstretched boot smother him.

The Dane was presented another chance a moment afterwards as he grabbed a cutback from Jensen in his stride to take aim only to blaze over in the end.

Ralf Rangnick’s men enjoyed little entries and possession this after the host threatened again from the counter just after the half-hour mark, but De Gea parried Mathias Jensen to keep the tie level.

All this seemed to change for United minutes from halftime when Ronaldo nodded a floating cross from Bruno Fernandes onto the top of the woodwork.

The balance in pendulum switched entirely on 55 minutes after Anthony Elanga applied a deft first-touch in the area off Fred’s surging ball to head in from close-range.

More misery followed the Bees eight minutes later when Mason Greenwood stayed level with Fernandes’ probing from the left of the area to tap his layoff into an unguarded net.

It was Greenwood’s last contribution though as with 20 minutes to go he made way for Marcus Rashford while Ronaldo went off, much to his dissatisfaction with Harry Maguire replacing him.

The substitutions proved timeous after Rashford made a smart run in the area inside the final 12 minutes to tuck Fernandes’ through ball into the top corner.

Brentford snatched a consolation goal six minutes to the end when Ivan Toney finished off a loose ball in the area after United struggled to deal with a throw-in.

Although, the Red Devils soaked up the pressure in the end to return to winning ways after going two league matches without a win.