Bruno Fernandes missed a second-half penalty for Manchester United as they slumped to an underwhelming 3–1 Premier League defeat at Brentford on Saturday lunchtime, piling even more pressure on Ruben Amorim.
The Red Devils were aiming to make a quick start as they sought to build on last weekend’s victory over Chelsea, but instead found themselves two goals behind within 20 minutes following some catastrophic defending.
Brentford striker Igor Thiago expertly beat United’s offside trap and unleashed a venomous strike top open the scoring, with one long punt upfield completely dissecting Amorim's back three. Altay Bayındır was on hand to deny two close-range headers as the hosts dominated their visitors, but was unable to prevent the Bees doubling their advantage.
Another direct aerial pass completely unnerved United’s rearguard, with Thiago eventually afforded a tap-in after Kevin Schade’s cross was palmed into his path by Bayındır. Amorim watched on helplessly from the sidelines as his side imploded in west London.
The Portuguese was offered a glimmer of hope at the midway point of the first half, however, with Benjamin Šeško opening his United account to reduce the deficit. The Slovenian needed three attempts to capitalise on some poor goalkeeping from Caoimhín Kelleher, but eventually rattled home from close range.
United looked sharper after Šeško’s strike but continued to struggle in defence. Bayındır was called upon either side of the hour mark to rebuff two more Brentford efforts, Van den Berg and Dango Ouattara both testing the goalkeeper from inside the penalty area.
United appeared to have been handed a reprieve with 15 minutes to spare when Nathan Collins was penalised for pulling Bryan Mbeumo down in the penalty area—the defender only booked when he almost certainly should have been sent off—but Fernandes, who had already missed a penalty at Fulham this season, was denied by Kelleher from the spot to keep Brentford ahead.
Fernandes’ missed penalty sucked the belief out of the Red Devils, who struggled to manufacture any opportunities of note as they chased desperately for an equaliser. It then got even worse for Amorim and his players as Mathias Jensen thundered home Brentford's third in stoppage time, condemning United to another dismal defeat.
