Kristoffer Ajer’s 99th-minute equaliser earned Brentford what could turn out to be a vital point in their fight against relegation, after second-half substitute Mason Mount had scored his first-ever goal for Manchester United only three minutes earlier.
A point apiece moves the Bees five points clear of the bottom three, while the Red Devils remain 11 points adrift of the final UEFA Champions League qualification position currently on offer to the Premier League.
As it happened
Concluding Saturday’s Premier League card in West London, United threatened almost immediately from kick-off as Bruno Fernandes fired wide after only three minutes. However, the opposite end of the Gtech Community Stadium nearly witnessed the game’s opening goal as Ivan Toney – fresh off getting off the mark for England in midweek against Belgium – beat André Onana but not the right-hand post.
Frustratingly, the buzzing Bees hit the frame of the goal again in the 33rd minute as Mathias Jørgensen’s dipping header struck the crossbar.
Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken then dealt with Marcus Rashford’s deflected long-range effort as time quickly elapsed in the first half – with United manager Erik ten Hag surely happy to have his troops back in the dressing room for half time.
Embed from Getty ImagesWinless at the Gtech Community Stadium in close to three months, Brentford were left indebted to Flekken shortly after the restart as he produced an absolutely stunning save to keep the game goalless.
Almost immediately after the Dutch shot-stopper had pulled off one of the saves of the season, Onana was summoned into action, as he denied Keane Lewis-Potter with a smart one-handed save before instinctively blocking the rebound from Yegor Yarmolyuk.
Determined not to get dragged further into the hotly-contested end-of-season relegation battle, Thomas Frank’s side again came close to breaking the deadlock as firstly Yoanne Wissa’s exquisitely-struck volley hit the post before Toney saw a goal ruled out for marginally straying beyond the shoulder of the last United defender.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnbelievably, Brentford then hit the woodwork for the fourth time in the game as second-half substitute Bryan Mbeumo left the crossbar shaking with a fearsomely-hit strike.
Astonishingly, it appeared that Mount had broken Brentford hearts in the 96th minute as he confidently took a clinical touch on the ball before firing the ball into the far corner beyond Flekken.
However, in wild scenes that lifted the roof of the Gtech Community Stadium, centre-half Kristoffer Ajer rifled the ball past Onana three minutes later – following brilliant build-up play in the penalty area by Toney.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe lineups
BRE: Flekken; Jørgensen, Ajer, Collins; Yarmolyuk, Roerslev, Jensen, Janelt, Lewis-Potter; Wissa, Toney
MUN: Onana; Dalot, Lindelöf, Varane, Wan-Bissaka; Mainoo, McTominay; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Højlund
