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 their Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Brentford looked set to rise above United in the table with what would have been only their second win of the season, but McTominay entered the fray in the 87th minute to dash their hopes of a rare away victory against the Red Devils.
United’s defensive frailties were exposed in the 26th minute when Casemiro gave the ball away and Victor 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 they 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.
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 who climbed to ninth in the table on 12 points, five ahead of 14th-placed Brentford.
Blues on track
Chelsea secured back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since March after coming from behind to thrash Burnley 4-1.
Promoted Burnley raced into a 15th-minute lead, Wilson Odobert scoring his first goal in English football to stun the visitors.
Chelsea offered little in response until Ameen Al Dakhil put through his own net in the most unfortunate circumstances three minutes before the break to get Mauricio Pochettino’s team back level.
Chelsea completed the turnaround early in the second half, Cole Palmer converting from the penalty spot. A fine Raheem Sterling goal and a fourth from substitute Nicolas Jackson put the game beyond the hosts, lifting Chelsea to ninth in the standings.
Spurs on top
Tottenham Hotspur went top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win at Luton Town on Saturday, despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.
Dutch defender Micky van de Ven scored the only goal of the game in the 52nd minute when he poked home a first-time shot after a cut-back from James Maddison following a Spurs short corner move.
Spurs remain unbeaten after eight league games, and are now two points clear of Manchester City and three ahead of Arsenal, before those two sides meet on Sunday.
The visitors had Yves Bissouma sent off in added time of the first half. “A lot of character and resilience,” Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said of his team’s performance.
