Premier League: United Revives with a Hard-Fought Win Against Brentford

Manchester United revived by securing their first win after five matches, defeating their guest Brentford 2-1 on Saturday in the eighth round of the English Premier League.

United owes their victory to Argentina’s Alejandro Garnacho (47) and Denmark’s Rasmus Højlund (62), after the visitors took the lead through Jamaica’s Ethan Pinnock (45+5).

Dutch coach Erik ten Hag might be the most relieved with this win, given the pressure of potential dismissal he faces, as he failed to lead the “Red Devils” to any victory in five consecutive matches, losing one of them.

United’s last win dates back to their 7-0 triumph over Barnsley from the lower divisions in the English League Cup on September 17, and before that, a 3-0 win over Southampton in the league.

United temporarily raised their tally to 11 points, placing them in tenth position ahead of their encounter against their former coach, Portuguese Jose Mourinho, leading Turkey’s Fenerbahçe on Thursday in the Europa League.

On the other hand, Brentford’s tally also froze at 10 points, temporarily placing them in twelfth.

The first serious attempt came from United’s Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez, who rose for a header from a free-kick toward the middle of the goal, but Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken saved it (21).

His compatriot Garnacho tried with a shot on the left side that deflected off the defense for a corner (25).

Cameroonian goalkeeper André Onana brilliantly saved his team, stopping a powerful shot from Denmark’s Christian Nørgaard (31).

Another Danish player for the home side, Højlund, tried his luck with a shot from the edge of the area that went wide of the left post (39).

Defender Pinnock seized the lead with a header following a corner taken by Denmark’s Mikkel Damsgaard (45+5).

Garnacho quickly equalized in the second half, firing a volley from a cross sent by Marcus Rashford (47).

Højlund gave United the lead with a lobbed shot over the goalkeeper to his left, capitalizing on a clever pass from Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes (62).

Aston Villa returned to winning ways after two draws by defeating their undermanned host Fulham 3-1.

Morgan Rogers (9), Ollie Watkins (59), and France’s Issa Diop (own goal at 69) scored for Villa, while Mexico’s Raul Jimenez (5) netted for Fulham, and Brazilian Andreas Pereira missed a penalty (16), with Fulham’s Danish player Joachim Andersen sent off (64).

Villa’s young substitute, Jaden Philogene, was sent off after receiving two yellow cards within 5 minutes (90+3).

Villa temporarily rose to fourth place with 17 points, while Fulham remained ninth with 11 points.

Brighton claimed their second consecutive win by defeating hosts Newcastle 1-0, with in-form Danny Welbeck scoring in the 35th minute.

This marked Welbeck’s third goal in four matches, bringing his tally to five goals in eight matches.

Southampton squandered their two-goal lead against Leicester City through Cameron Archer and Nigerian Joe Aribo (8 & 28), conceding three goals from Argentine Facundo Buonanotte (65), Jamie Vardy (74 from a penalty), and substitute Jordan Ayew (90+8) after the home side’s Scottish midfielder Ryan Fraser was sent off (73).

Everton won 2-0 against hosts Ipswich with goals from Senegal’s Iliman Ndiaye (17) and Michael Keane (40).