A spring in the step!
Brentford 4, Manchester United 3; 04.05.2025
Spring is in the air and even If the lambs are not gambolling along the Chiswick High Road, I am assured they are doing so where the grass is greener and in those far-flung parts of the countryside foreign to most of us. Manchester, for example.
You may recall there were areas of the United Kingdom into which Brentford FC would rarely feel at home. The front runners of the Premier League formed an elite where only the upper crust of their competitors were largely welcomed, the hoi polloi teams being left to watch their pastimes – from gambolling lambs to the cream of the sport they loved – with their noses pressed against shop windows like urchins anxious to taste the wares inside.
Having once finished ninth in their four Prem season outings so far, it is possible that the Bees are now on a wave that might dump them on the foreshore of the Premier League elite come this season’s end. And what a time for it to happen – just take a look at the list of highflyers who would be accompanying them!
Liverpool and Manchester City, of course. Arsenal, bruised from a disappointing challenge for the two top spots; Chelsea, arriving late, and a few also-rans who might flirt with the fringes of European contention.
Anyone else? Come along you at the back of the class, which is the most obvious club missing from football’s royalty.
Yep, it’s Manchester United, perhaps the most glamorous of Premier Leaguers and currently languishing sixteeth in a list of twenty (and with Tottenham Hotspur a place behind them) as they arrived at the Gtech.
This is a long way of acknowledging Brentford’s arrival in the top echelons of the grand old game. It may be temporary, of course – viz Manchester United, even if they have been hanging out in the halls of grandeur for years – but here the Bees are. Live and kicking, with only eight clubs between them and the top of the tree. What’s not to like?
Meanwhile, the faithful who have been awaiting this situation can preen themselves, even if reaching the pinnacle – pardon the hyperbole – wasn’t quite plain sailing. This time the visitors took the lead after just fourteen minutes, when Mark Flekken mistimed his kick upfield and Alejandro Garnacho snatched up the loose ball and exchanged passes with Kobbie Mainoo before supplying the cross for Mason Mount to score.
With coach Rubin Amorim fielding an eleven composed of players as fresh as the morning’s milk, it was a grand start to their afternoon (although Garnacho and Mount are seasoned seniors, even if still fresh of face). More importantly, however, it was a lead that didn’t seem to interrupt the momentum the Bee’s had already begun to build.
After a mere thirteen minutes more, Mikkel Damsgaard took advantage of gleaming new star Michael Kayode’s firework of a long throw and his volley diverted by the shoulder of MU’s Luke Shaw – another more experienced member of the squad – and out of keeper Altay Bayindir’s reach.
It was about now that there were those who began to wonder if this might just be the day when Brentford came full members of the Premier League. And, yes, it was!
Kevin Schade was the first Bee to get his name on the scoresheet, soaring above Bayindir to head powerfully past him, before waiting for the second half and a chance to outwit the keeper and head in a second. And then came Damsgaard, baffling the visiting defence and enabling him to feed Yoane Wissa and so bring his tally up to match scoring partner Bryan Mbeumo’s eighteen goals.
Coach Thomas Frank propelled some of his bench into the game, resulting in United scoring two goals in the final act of the afternoon’s entertainment.
‘Couldn’t care less,’ said my mate, Charlie. ‘They were okay, but let’s face it, we are the real deal.’
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Flekken; Kayode (sub Ayer 66m), Collins, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter (Nunes 81); Nørgaard, Yarmoliuk (Jensen 76), Mbeumo; Damsgaard (Thiago, 81), Schade (Henry 72); Wissa.
Manchester United (3-4-2-1): Bayidir; Fredricson (Lindelhof 72), De Ligt (Maguire 35), Shaw, (L Yoro 46), Dorgo (Diallo 46); Ugarte, Maindoo, Amass, Mount (Eriksen 57), Garnacho, Obi.
Bill Hagerty is a contributing editor to the Chiswick Calendar website.