Manchester United star Mason Mount returned with a bang for Manchester United against Brentford after a lengthy injury layoff.
The former Chelsea star, who has struggled with a niggling injury crisis, starred for the Red Devils despite another disappointing outing at Gtech Community Stadium against Thomas Frank’s boys.
After Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa aced their fixtures to consolidate their push for Champions League football next season, United needed nothing less from victory to stay put in the race to qualify for the elite club competition in Europe next season.
It was a near-barren game for the Red Devils. They started on a good note with a dominant sail but could not break Brentford’s wall.
It was a deadlock in the final third for the Reds Devils as they failed to make a credible and potent attempt despite being on the front foot from the start.
Meanwhile, Brentford were beginning to establish their presence in the game after the quarter-hour. Frequent threatening offensives and counters exposed United’s vulnerable backline.
Ivan Toney had a chance to put Brentford in the lead after he latched on a throughball from the middle and took a pacey run into the box.
Still under charge from United defenders, the Arsenal target blasted a low shot pass Andre Onana and it hit the woodwork and bounced off. It was the nearest goal attempt in the game.
Manchester United were gradually losing their stranglehold on the game as Brentford continued on their more dominant performance.
Jensen also came close to putting Brentford ahead but had his fine header bounced off the crossbar for a goal kick.
The two near-misses saw Brentford settled for a barren first-half draw but they were the better side and had more attempts than the visitors.
The Bees needed a more clinical finishing to convert their numerous chances to a goal in the second half.
Manchester United improved their game in the second half but it was still a subpar delivery for the Red Devils on the attack. They struggled to create chances and were clueless when in the hosts’ final third.
Meanwhile, Brentford continued on their dominant attacking sail throughout the game and registered a remarkable 30 attempts on goal against United’s 9.
It was still goalless for both sides with the regulation time far spent. Six minutes into added time, Mason Mount finally broke his goal deadlock for United, scoring to give the Red Devils the lead against the run of play.
Mount’s crucial goal saw the visitors close in on running out with all three points from Gtech Community Stadium but were pegged back to a 1-1 draw through Ajer’s late equaliser three minutes later.
A crazy final minutes of the game saw both sides share spoils as it ended 1-1 after the final whistle.
United have drifted farther from the Champions League race after surrendering the two points at the death. They are still 6th on the table with 48 points, 8 points off Tottenham in 5th, and 10 points off Aston Villa in 4th.
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