It gets a little worse: after missing out on qualifying for the Champions League and a frustrating home defeat at the start of the season, Manchester United experienced a debacle on the 2nd matchday of the Premier League: the club with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo went down with last year’s promoted team.
Manchester United is in free fall: After the 2-1 draw at home against Brighton at the start of the season
After just over half an hour it was already 0: 4 after goals from Joshua Dasilva (10th minute), Mathias Jensen (18th), Ben Mee (30th) and Bryan Mbeumo (35th) – the top-class offensive around Ronaldo or former Dortmund player Jadon Sancho could only rub his eyes at the consistency with which the hosts exploited the sometimes hair-raising mistakes of the “Red Devils”. Ronaldo scolded his teammates – and should now be even more certain of his desire to change than already.
“He’s a threat, he can score goals. That’s why he’s starting. We saw in the second half last week that he made the difference in the game when he came on as a substitute. And that’s exactly what we expect today “Coach Erik ten Haag explained before the game what hopes he pinned on the Portuguese’s return to the starting XI. However, he was disappointed. Despite a higher proportion of ball possession, the noble offensive by Manchester United, including Ronaldo, was able to create little danger. The descent of the former flagship club after a disappointing season that ended with missing the Champions League qualification, continues under the new coach.
And the manager, who had succeeded Ralf Rangnick, now has a glimpse of the state of his side, as ex-United player Denis Irwin believes: “It was a bleak evening. I think the manager now knows what for he has a task ahead of him,” the Irishman is quoted as saying on the club’s website. “He will have found out a lot about his players in the last two games. It was just a very poor performance.” Irwin won the English championship seven times between 1993 and 2001 in the golden era of the “Red Devils”, and in 1999 Irwin won the Champions League with Manchester United. Those years seem like a faint memory these days.
Brentford, who finished 13th last season, is only the third team to score four goals in the first half, according to data provider Opta. Previously, Tottenham Hotspur (October 2020) and Liverpool (October 2021) had succeeded. The four Premier League bankruptcies in a row across the season mean a negative record for the 20-time English champion. Manchester United is thus in last place in the Premier League before Sunday’s games of the 2nd matchday. On the 3rd day of the game, runners-up Liverpool are a real top-class player at Old Trafford.
