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- Garnacho Channels His Inner Cristiano Ronaldo to Save Manchester United
Garnacho Channels His Inner Cristiano Ronaldo to Save Manchester United
Argentinian star Alejandro Garnacho once again proved to be the best player on the field for Manchester United in their nerve-wracking 2-1 win over Brentford. It wasn't nerve-wracking because the win came late, but because the Red Devils found themselves trailing after a brilliant header from Ethan Pinnock. Only Garnacho and a stunning goal from Rasmus Højlund managed to pull Erik ten Hag out of the crisis he seems to be teetering on every weekend.
The Dutch coach, seemingly on the brink of getting sacked sooner or later, managed to hang on after a lackluster first half. The most eventful moment was Matthijs de Ligt taking a knee to the head after ducking too low, resulting in a nasty cut that required treatment three times.
By the third time, with blood visibly streaming from his head, De Ligt had to leave the field just before halftime. United, without one of their key defenders, had to defend a corner, and Pinnock capitalized on poor marking from Dalot and Højlund to head the ball straight into the top corner.
United headed into the locker room down 1-0, and with the grim reminder that they hadn’t scored in the Premier League for 34 days—and even worse, 64 days at Old Trafford. Ten Hag must have said something fiery in the dressing room because the team came out with a completely different attitude, attacking Brentford relentlessly, especially through Garnacho, who seems to be the only player willing to take the game into his own hands when things aren’t going well.
The Argentinian, now a regular starter, scored a stunner to make it 1-1, pouncing on a brilliant cross from Marcus Rashford to the far post. Running full tilt, Garnacho set himself up perfectly to blast the ball past Flekken and put United back on track for a win, which Højlund sealed minutes later.
The Norwegian, who hadn’t scored in the Premier League yet this season (though he had in the Europa League), finished off a lovely United combination. High pressing paid off, they won the ball in midfield, and Eriksen slid a clever pass to Bruno Fernandes at the edge of the box. Bruno’s delicate touch set up Højlund, who chipped it over Flekken. A classy finish for United’s first win at Old Trafford since beating Fulham on opening day. The Red Devils can breathe a bit easier now, sitting on 11 points in 10th place, seven points off a Champions League spot, while Brentford is in 12th place with 10 points.