Substitute Scott McTominay struck twice deep into stoppage time to snatch a 2-1 win for Manchester United over Brentford in a thrilling end to its Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Brentford looked set to rise above United in the table with what would have been only its second win of the season, but McTominay entered the fray in the 87th minute to dash its hopes of a rare away victory against the Red Devils.
With disgruntled home fans again staging protests against the club’s owners before the game, Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans started in central defence with Victor Lindelof deployed as a makeshift left wing-back due to a slew of injuries.
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United’s defensive frailties were exposed in the 26th minute when Casemiro gave the ball away and Lindelof failed to clear, allowing Mathias Jensen to slot the ball under the body of keeper Andre Onana, who should have saved it comfortably.
United, beaten at home in the last week by Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, created several scoring opportunities, many of them from distance, in the second half, but only managed to put precious few on target as the Bees looked set for a well-deserved win.
Onana redeemed himself late on, pulling off two tremendous saves in quick succession by tipping over a shot from Neal Maupay and a header from Christian Norgaard to set the stage for McTominay’s late intervention.
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Thrown on for Sofyan Amrabat, McTominay quickly justified the faith of coach Erik ten Hag by rattling home the equaliser after a goalmouth scramble in the 93rd minute and he was not done yet.
The Scot netted again with a header in the seventh minute of stoppage time to send the home fans wild and grab all three points for his side which climbed to ninth in the table on 12 points, five ahead of 14th-placed Brentford.
Fulham wins over last place Sheffield United
Fulham secured a comfortable 3-1 win over Sheffield United at Craven Cottage on Saturday to leave the visitor bottom of the Premier League table, in a game overshadowed by an injury to United’s Chris Basham.
Fulham wrapped up the game in added time when Willian found space in the visitor’s area before getting his shot away which the keeper got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Fulham went 2-1 up in the 76th minute when Tom Cairney’s looping effort hit the underside of the bar before going in off the back of keeper Wes Foderingham.
It came eight minutes after the visitor had levelled through an own-goal by Antonee Robinson.
After a scoreless first half, Fulham broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Andreas Pereira played a perfect ball into the path of Bobby Decordova-Reid who bided his time before firing past Foderingham.
The first half saw United’s Basham go off after going over on his ankle when attempting a cross.
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