Manchester United have continued their poor run of form in the Premier League so far this season as the Red Devils suffered a chaotic 4-3 loss at Brentford, in their 16th league defeat of 2024/25.
With one eye on the midweek UEFA Europa League semifinal second leg against Athletic Club in mind, Ruben Amorim shuffled his starting XI, but an early injury to Matthijs de Ligt scuppered his plans.
Mason Mount fired United ahead in West London, before Luke Shaw's own goal pulled the Bees level, and Kevin Schade put the hosts 2-1 in front.
Schade netted his second of the game, before Wissa made it 4-1 and Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo added late consolations for United - but it was too little too late.
With this defeat, the Red Devils languish in 15th position while Brentford move up to ninth spot in the standings.
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What did Amorim say after the Brentford loss?
Amorim highlighted the spells where United dominated and controlled the contest. However, he admitted his team lacked dominance at set pieces.
"We started well, we controlled quite well, and then throw-ins and set-pieces were a problem for us, but that's normal because we don’t have height in the team," as per quotes from BBC Sport.
"We fought back and we were near – we tried to push but in the end we lost."
The Portuguese coach believes the Red Devils are improving under his leadership, but results have not been in their favour. He also claimed United are not ready to be competitive in the Premier League whilst also playing in the Champions League.
"I have no doubt we are playing better. So we have to take the heat. At this moment, we're losing games in the Premier League.
"We are fighting for the Europa League and Thursday is the most important game for us.
"We are not ready to play in Premier League competitively and be in the Champions League, but we need to win and we need to win this competition to give something to our fans.
"Then we will have time to prepare the team to cope with those two competitions."
United registered a dominant 3-0 win over Athletic Club in the first leg clash but they need to get the job done back in Manchester on May 8.
The Europa League remains their only beacon of hope for this season, which otherwise has been pretty underwhelming.
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