The civil unrest bubbled under at Old Trafford but if manager elect Erik ten Hag were under any illusions about his first order of business, a reminder was provided by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Manchester United legend won, and converted, the penalty that handed his struggling team a priceless two-goal cushion and left them on course for Europa League qualification.
It was his ninth goal in his last six league games for the club, a spell in which he has accounted for all but three of his team’s output.
And, in a season which will be long remembered by the club’s vast fanbase for all the wrong reasons, he has not only provided supporters with rare moments to savour but also left Ten Hag contemplating whether he can really do without the veteran.
Player ratings
- Man Utd (4-2-3-1): De Gea 7; Dalot 7, Lindelof 6, Varane 6, Telles 6; McTominay 6, Matic 6 (Fred 70, 6); Elanga 7 (Cavani 74, 6), Fernandes 7, Mata 7 (Jones 74, 6); Ronaldo 8.
- Substitutes (not used): Henderson, Bailly, Jones, Fernandez, Lingard, Garnacho, Rashford, Cavani.
- Brentford (5-3-2): Raya 5; Ajer 7, Roerslev 6, Jansson 6, Sorensen 6, Henry 5; Janet 6 (Da Silva 70, 5), Norgaard 6 (Jensen 70, 5), Eriksen 8; Mbeumo 7 (Wissa 75, 5), Toney 6.
- Substitutes (not used): Fernandez, Jeanvier, Stevens, Baptiste, Fosu-Henry, Young-Coombes.
But only a few hundred answered that call and who could blame them with Ronaldo and United, for once, enjoying a rare, comfortable victory on an evening of low-intensity football.
Indeed, the notion that this was little more than an end-of-season friendly was reflected even before kick-off in Ralf Rangnick’s team selection, with Juan Mata handed his first start since the final day of last season, in order to say farewell to the club he is leaving in the summer.
He is not alone, of course, and the sub-plot of the game revolved around the imminent shake-up expected from Ten Hag and how the supporters would react to their last home game of a wretched season.
It might have grown even more wretched, and the mood soured, if Brentford had scored straight from kick-off.
But Alex Telles made an important challenge on Bryan Mbeumo, with all of ten seconds gone, and Old Trafford breathed a collective sigh of relief.
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Rangnick set for Austria job but will stay at Man Utd to give 'advice' to Ten Hag28 April, 2022The relief turned to disbelief a couple of minutes later when the peerless Ronaldo slipped and fell over when clean through on goal thanks to a delightful Diogo Dalot through ball.
Yet it took just nine minutes for United to break the deadlock and steady collective nerves with a clinically worked goal, started with Dalot playing a long ball down the right wing.
Anthony Elanga gave chase and the youngster’s cross was met by Bruno Fernandes who volleyed in from six yards for his first goal since February; a statistic that sums up how miserable 2022 has been for his club.
With United looking to win their last three league games in order to match their lowest ever Premier League points total of 64, they might have been closer to that goal when Ronaldo thought he had doubled the lead just before half-time.
Mata and Fernandes played some skillful football around halfway before the former sprinted away and crossed for Ronaldo to finish, only for the United icon to be judged offside by VAR.
He would not be denied on 61 minutes, however, when Ronaldo sprinted into the area and was pushed over clumsily by full-back Rico Henry.
The Portuguese took the penalty himself, sending keeper David Raya the wrong way and scoring with an unstoppable finish that killed off what had been a strong start to the second half from the visitors.
David De Gea had made an important save with his legs, from Ivan Toney, with United only one goal to the good.
But by the time Raphael Varane volleyed in a Mata corner from six yards to make it 3-0 after 72 minutes, United had secured their biggest victory since Ronaldo’s debut, a 4-1 win over Newcastle, in September.
And, despite fears that a traditional end-of-season lap of “honour” by United players after the game might spark an angry reaction from disgruntled fans, the gesture took place quickly and without anything but polite applause from supporters.
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