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Manchester United v Brentford: Premier League – live | Premier League
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37 min Damsgaard caresses a gorgeous pass over the top and again, Thaigo is in behind Heaven! he takes a touch but, as he shapes to shoot, a telescopic left foot comes from arounds his body, effectively shooting for him, and Lammens saves well from his own man. That’s very good recovery-defending, but Thiago didn’t protect the ball well enough.
35 min Outtara marches between Amad and Shaw, then threads a fine pass through the middle for Thaigo and he’s in! But rather than hit it first time, he takes a touch, slips, and Heaven bumps it back to Lammens, just about. Brentford are knocking at the door.
34 min Brentford move it nicely as they look for holes in United’s defence, then Mainoo crunches in on Kayode and the home side clear.
31 min And here he is now, doing just that to touch off for Bruno who, on the edge, flights a lovely cross over Kayode’s head and again, Amad is in space! But this time, he heads straight at Kelleher … then the flag goes up.
30 min I’m not sure Sesko has had a kick yet. He’s not had great service, but given the players outside him, he can come to the ball and lay it off as the runners motor.
29 min Amad wins the first header but the ball comes back, and Mainoo does well to hook clear.
27 min Damsgaard is pulling the strings for Brentford, controlling their attacks, and when he slides a pass in behind, Lewis-Potter barges through one tackle, then wins a corner off Dalot.
26 min Mainoo finds himself on the left wing and again, looks to attack his man, but Kayode is a terrific one-on-one defender and does enough to win the ball.
24 min Damsgaard spreads left then, when the ball goes right, Outtara’s cross is blocked.
23 min Since that early run, Mainoo has been quiet, and that’s been his problem so far – he must get better at finding the ball and passing it incisively. Chelsea felt like a step forward, but only if he maintains the level
22 min “There’s an unbelievable amount of space in this game,” reckons Tim Stappard, and I agree. Both sides are good at finding it and United are also excellent at leaving it – a situation I imagine they hope to address in the summer by signing midfielders
20 min When United opted to start the season with Andre Onana in net, it was mind-boggling enough, but seeing how solid Lammens is, it makes even less sense. He saves almost everything he should, which alone makes him a massive upgrade, and also plenty he shouldn’t. There’s work to do with his passing and foot-movement, especially when facing long shots, but he’s been a monumental upgrade, and having him there has made a huge difference to United’s defenders.
18 min The resultant corner comes to nothing, but this is a really entertaining and open game.
17 min oh, he does get a touch because it’s a corner and gain, Brentford pick a pass in behind United, Damsgaard sliding in for Kayode as the defence steps up. He looks to send an outswinging finish towards the far side-netting, but Lammens spreads himself well to make the save.
16 min But then United give it away and Outtara seizes upon the loose ball, slipping a fine reverse-pass in behind for Lewis-Potter, who delivers a perfect low cross into the corridor. Thiago is there, but Shaw slides in and must put him off, because he doesn’t get a touch but the striker can’t land a boot on it.
15 min Brentford come forward and win a corner, the ref taking a moment as the players jostle around Senne Lammens, then the ball comes in and Casemiro, equally adept in his own box, heads clear.
13 min That’s now nine league goals for Casemiro; it’s not often you see a player whose timing and execution are both stellar, never mind a defensive midfielder who scored 24 goals in 221 games for Real Madrid.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Brentford (Casemiro 11)
It’s absolutely absurd, it really is. Bruno swings the corner out and Maguire is totally unmarked, nodding back to what was the near post where Casemiro sneaks in behind the defensive line to again deposit an expert headed finish into the roof. How on earth are United going to replace his output?
10 min United fancy Mbeumo in behind Lewis-Potter, another ball setting him away and he’s got a start on Collins, who gets back at him well, conceding another corner.
10 min It’s been a really good start – there’s proper tempo to the game.
8 min Bruno’s corner picks out Mauire at the back post, he arches backwards to make it his, butts firmly … and Kelleher claws away, just, some of the ball over the line but the rest not.
8 min United have stared well and Bruno sweeps out to Mbeumo – seeing the farthest pass first, as Glenn Hioddle said of David Beckham. The eventuating cross, though, is blocked at source.
7 min “Yes, all joking aside,” retyuns Justin, “if readers haven’t ever heard of Eamon Dunphy’s work, he is a very fine sports journalist, well worth checking out. And no, he’s not my uncle or anything. And neither is Chris Kavanagh, tonight’s ref, btw. Only a Game is a classic fly-on-the-wall account of a season in freefall in mid-1970s Cold Blow Lane.”
It starts so positively too, which is why it’s so heartbreaking as it progresses.
6 min Now Brentford counter and Shaw hauls down Schade on halfway; he’s booked.
5 min United win another corner, again cleared, but they’ve started well here.
3 min The corner is cleared to Shaw, who leathers over the top from distance.
2 min OH MY DAYS HOW HAS AMAD MISSED THIS?! Mainoo gets on the ball and runs – United have been poor at putting him where he can do what makes him special, beating men in small spaces with such dexterity you barely believe he’s come out with the ball. He sways inside and away from Damsgaard and, now in the box, feints and dips inside Yarmolyuk then Collins. He might shoot, but instead makes sure by squaring for Amad, who punches towards the far corner … only for the shot to clip Van den Berg’s heel and fly wide. That’s why you go high when faced with a man on the line.
2 min United sweep forward with Bruno and Casemiro moving it quickly, then the ball arrives at Dalot inverting; he swipes into touch.
1 min For now, at least, it’s Mbeumo on the right and Amad on the left. I’m not sure why, but perhaps it’s because he badly needs a goal, so is in the position that best enables him to seek that.
1 min Away we go!
Our teams are tunnelled … and out they come!
“You’d worry for Keith Andrews’ hair tonight with those ominous-looking storm clouds over Old Trafford,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “This is hair so great that it gets parodied on Irish TV alongside the bald truth of Liam Brady’s and another guy’s who used to play for Manchester United (but mainly Milwall) called Eamon Dunphy.”
It’s a work of art. I actually found a book Dunphy’s, Only A Game, in the school library – it’s a classic – and his biography of Matt Busby, A Strange Kind of Glory, is absolutely magnificent.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Brentford’s wide players do. They’ve got serious pace on both sides with Outtara and Schade, but also behind them, where Kayode and Lewis-Potter will be thrusting forward. Neither Luke Shaw nor Diogo Dalot are all that, and if both are pinned back, United might struggle defensively and also for width.
“Any idea why the he FA Cup semi was on TNT yesterday?” wonders Dave Estherby. “I give Sky enough money as it is and still miss the Saturday lunchtime game every week, now I have to go the pub for domestic Cup games too? Joke.
On another note, a well-known turf accountant was offering 1500-1 last week on Utd finishing higher than Arsenal; if that ain’t worth a tenner nothing is.
(Not to condone gambling etc…)”
Well they paid for the rights, but yes, it is absolutely the case that, generally speaking, monopolies are bad for consumers, but in the case of televised sport, it means more subscriptions are necessary – you also need Amazon Prime for Champions League. And it’s particularly egregious in the case of TNT, formerly BT, who used their historic telecoms monopoly to fund their tenders in order to flog broadband.
So where is the game? United will look to find Bruno Fernandes, who’s recently started pulling wide to feed ball and swing over crosses; a question is whether Mainoo can continue the form he showed at Chelsea, linking play to get his attackers the ball. If his touch volume stays high, he can start controlling play, exactly what United currently lack – and their front players can score against anyone.
Brentford, meanwhile, will want to flood the middle of the pitch, where Casemiro can’t cover ground, and also look to double-up out wide, putting crosses into the box – and throws, and corners. For that reason, United will be happy to have Maguire back, but I’d not be surprised if Igor Thiago looks to drag him out to the wings, nor if Shade and Outtara come from out to in, looking to test his pace and get hi facing his own goal.
This is a pretty big game for Michael Carrick. As we said at the top, his team struggled against Leeds and also lost at Newcastle, despite playing against 10 for a half. Brentford will be similarly physical, so it’s up to United to show their manager can combat that kind of opponent.
It seems like Benjamin Sesko is now installed as United’s first-choice centre-forward – though full confirmation will come next weekend, when Liverpool visit Old Trafford, as in previous big games, Carrick has deployed Mbeumo through the middle.
Ultimately, though, the club spent all that money on Sesko because the plan is for him to be a regular, so really, they need to build around him, which means better delivery from wide areas; I wonder if we’ll see whoever plays on the left whip balls for him to the front post, though I also think there’s hay to be made with Mbeumo coming inside to swing those in to the back stick.
It’s been a difficult second half of the season for Amad who, as a dribbler, offers a threat that no other United player does, and is also an excellent scavenger for possession. But his numbers are nowhere near where they need to be, which is presumably why he was left out at Chelsea.
Either Amad or Bryan Mbeumo will be playing out of position tonight. I’d imagine it’ll be Amad on the right and Mbeumo on the left, as the latter has the pace and power to go on the outside, the former less so.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is in the sky studio, for some reason dressed as Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
As for Brentford, Andrews picks the same side for the third match in a row – partly a facility of those injuries – but Josh Dasilva is back on the bench after nobbling his knee in February 2024 and missing the entirety of last season. Godspeed, old mate.
So looking at that United XI, Harry Maguire returns after suspension, replacing Noussair Mazraoui, while Amad Diallo is back in with Cunha out. Otherwise, Patrick Dorgu is back on the bench having jiggered his hamstring at Arsenal in January, while Shea Lacey is rewarded for his excellent age-gpoup performances, included on the bench despite playing yesterday.
Now here’s Keith Andrews, and you’ll be delighted to know his barnet is looking lush. Brentford have earned the right to go into this match in a confident manner and though they’ve not earned as many points as he’d like in recent weeks, he’s been fairly happy with the performances; though he’s got injury problems, there’s a special togetherness within the group and he wants them to play with personality.
On Ciaomhin Kelleher, he says he’s known him a long time through Ireland, so when he became available, signing him was a no-brainer – and he felt it’d be a good move for the player.
Before we go over those, Michael Carrick is talking to Sky, telling them he wanted to get Kobbie Mainoo on to the pitch enjoying himself – he needed to find himself and against Chelsea, he was excellent – without giving him too much guidance.
On Ayden Heaven, he says he’s got the talent and did so well in the last game, he’s kept his place.
Otherwise, he’s been asked about what business the club needs to do in the summer and however long he’s there, he’s not taking short-term decisions, he wants the best for the football club. However long it goes on, he’s really enjoying working with the players.
Matheus Cunha hurt his hip flexor at Chelsea and improved during the week but they’re not risking him tonight.
Teams!
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Heaven, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes, Mbeumo; Sesko. Subs: Bayindir, Dorgu, Malacia, Mazraoui, Yoro, Mount, Ugarte, Lacey, Zirkzee.
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, Van Den Berg, Lewis-Potter- Jensen, Yarmoliuk; Schade, Damsgaard, Ouattara; Thiago. Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Pinnock, Dasilva, Nelson, Ajer, Donovan, Furo, Shield.
Referee: Chris Kavangh (Ashton-under-Lyne)
Preamble
One of the most joyous things about football is how miserable it makes almost everyone – Arsenal, for example, are top of the table and in the semi-finals of the Champions League, yet there’s no sense anyone connected with them is enjoying any of it.
Unusually, though, both tonight’s clubs are pretty happy with life. United have near enough secured Champions League football for next season and, since Michael Carrick took over from Ruben Amorim, no side has won more points nor scored more goals. For the first time in a long time, talk of a title challenge doesn’t sound ridiculous.
Brentford, meanwhile, looked relegation favourites in August, losing some of their best players and their manager too. But Keith Andrews has guided them superbly such that they now sit eighth in the table, and have every chance of securing European football for the first time in their history.
And make no mistake, they’ll come to Old Trafford to win. It won’t have escaped Andrews’ attention how much United struggled with Leeds’ physicality this time last week and, though tonight’s probable centre-back partnership will be better able to cope with pressure of that sort, Brentford are better at applying it.
Which is to say that, with both teams committed to attack and needing points but not under pressure, this should be a lot of fun – unless one of football’s overarching truths decides to the contrary.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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