Manchester United suffered their third defeat of the Premier League campaign following a 3-1 loss to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Red Devils went into the game with momentum after a 2-1 victory over Chelsea. They were fancied to beat the Bees, who had conceded 10 goals from five games.
However, United’s defensive woes were once again on display in west London. Igor Thiago opened the scoring for the hosts after a costly error from Harry Maguire.
The England international tried to play the offside trap as the last man. He was unsuccessful in doing so and struggled to catch up with Thiago, who opened the scoring with a powerful effort.
The Bees doubled their advantage soon after. United reduced the deficit through Benjamin Sesko’s maiden goal.
It should have been 2-2 in the second half, but Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty for the second time this campaign.
Brentford put the game beyond United’s sights with a sublime long-range goal from Mathias Jensen in stoppage time.
Fernandes had a woeful outing with a missed penalty. The Portuguese squandered possession on 18 occasions.
However, Maguire was equally disappointing in the middle of the back three. Aside from his defensive mishap, he managed only 39 touches with 25 passes.
Despite playing as the deepest central defender, he lost possession on seven occasions. He delivered just one out of five long balls attempted.
Maguire did make five clearances, while winning four aerial duels, but his reduced mobility and poor decision-making led to the first goal.
Manager Ruben Amorim is unlikely to drop his captain in Fernandes, but we expect Maguire to make way to the bench against Sunderland.
Leny Yoro should be reinstated on the right side of the central defence, with Matthijs de Ligt occupying the central role instead of Maguire.
Stats from Sofascore.com