Ethan Pinnock was on target as Brentford fell to a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League.
The defender’s thumping header put the Bees in front during the final seconds of the first half, but United were the better side after the break and hit back through Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Højlund.
The visitors, unchanged after a 5-3 win over Wolves last time out but with Yoane Wissa among the substitutes, created the first opening at Old Trafford.
Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt combined down the left and Jonny Evans got a toe to the latter’s dangerous delivery with Kevin Schade lurking inside the six-yard box.
Kristoffer Ajer’s cross-field pass presented Bryan Mbeumo with a first opportunity to run at Lisandro Martínez. The forward advanced up the touchline, cut inside and let fly from 20 yards but his shot cleared the crossbar.
On 16 minutes, Pinnock’s long throw was headed away by Casemiro and the ball dropped kindly for Mikkel Damsgaard on the edge of the area, but his volley lacked conviction and was lost in the crowd between the midfielder and Andre Onana’s goal.
There was a moment of panic for the Bees fans midway through the first half. Christian Eriksen’s corner, delivered to the near post, was met by Martínez and Mark Flekken allowed the ball to escape his clutches. Højlund poked towards goal and Flekken dropped down quickly to claw the ball off the line.
The keeper was tested again moments later, diving to low his right to push Garnacho’s powerful drive out for another United corner.
At the other end, captain Christian Nørgaard took Mbeumo’s short pass on the turn and tested Onana with a dipping, long-range effort.
On 34 minutes Eriksen blazed over the bar from close range, but the referee had already stopped play for Casemiro’s foul on Nathan Collins.
Soon after, Casemiro was teed up by Bruno Fernandes on the edge of the box, but his shot was wild and landed in the Stretford End.
Garnacho then brought down Rashford’s superb switch and blazed wide from the left of the area under pressure from Sepp van den Berg who did just enough to narrow the angle.
Five minutes before the break, Højlund pulled wide having been found by Garnacho. The pair combined again seconds later and Garnacho’s shot from a similar position, slowed by a slight deflection off van den Berg, was parried by Flekken and cleared to safety by Pinnock.
Pinnock then showed his quality at the other end. His early cross was headed well wide by Schade, before he gave Brentford the lead in the final seconds of the half.
The centre-back pulled away from marker Diogo Dalot and timed his leap to perfection to meet Damsgaard’s in-swinging corner with a thumping header that whizzed beyond Onana and into the top corner.
The home fans voiced their discontent as the sides disappeared down the tunnel as Matthijs de Ligt had been off the pitch for the set-piece due to a head injury, but the defender’s absence should take nothing away from another well-worked routine from the west Londoners.
The hosts came flying out after the half-time break. Just seconds after Pinnock had prevented Højlund from pulling the trigger from close range, Rashford picked out Garnacho with a deep cross and the winger beat Flekken with a controlled, first-time finish.
United and Garnacho immediately went in search of another, with the winger’s long-range effort following a burst down the left tipped around the post by Flekken.
Casemiro and Fernandes were both denied by Flekken as Erik ten Hag’s side maintained the pressure.
But United weren’t to be denied a second goal. Eriksen’s piercing pass was cleverly flicked on by Fernandes into the path of Højlund, who advanced into the box and lifted the ball over the keeper.
Flekken raced off his line and made a sprawling stop to deny Dalot, after the full-back had capitalised on Schade’s slip to latch on to Onana’s long ping.
Casemiro’s speculative shot flashed wide of Flekken’s left post as United looked to extend their advantage.
De Ligt’s cross from the right broke kindly for Garnacho and the forward’s first-time effort, again from distance, was held by Flekken. Collins then made a brave block to prevent Rashford’s powerful strike from finding the target.
Substitute Yehor Yarmoliuk lashed over the bar after a quick Brentford counter, but the assistant’s flag was raised for a Wissa offside in the build-up.
Fábio Carvalho dragged wide after some pinball in the United box, and Fernandes’s shot was blocked by Flekken at his near post, as the game ended in defeat for the Bees.
Manchester United: Onana; Dalot, de Ligt, Evans (Lindelof 89), Martínez; Casemiro (Ugarte 88), Eriksen; Garnacho (Mazraoui 90+1), Fernandes, Rashford; Højlund (Zirkzee 74)
Subs not used: Bayindir, Fletcher, Amad, Antony, Wheatley
Brentford: Flekken;van den Berg (Roerslev 86), Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Nørgaard, Janelt (Yarmoliuk 75), Damsgaard; Lewis-Potter (Wissa 65), Schade (Carvalho 74), Mbeumo
Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Mee, Meghoma, Konak, Trevitt
Frank: Not enough of our players hit a high enough level
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank was disappointed with the Bees’ second-half performance at Old Trafford, admitting he “needed more” from his players after a solid opening 45 minutes.
“It was a good first half, I was very happy with that, I thought we were the better team in that period of the game against a good team,” he stated.
“We went 1-0 up, but it’s so frustrating and annoying that they scored after two minutes of the second half – if they don’t do that, you don’t know what would have happened. But fair play to Manchester United.
“I thought that we were way too passive. But we are at Old Trafford, they have some top players.
“After the first goal, I felt like we lacked a bit more character. If we want to win here, we need more. Unfortunately, not enough of our players hit a high enough level in the second half.”
Damsgaard: We didn’t keep the intensity in the second half
Mikkel Damsgaard, who assisted Ethan Pinnock’s header in first-half stoppage time, was left frustrated by United’s turnaround after the break.
“It’s disappointing to lose this game, and that we didn’t keep a clean sheet and the intensity in the second half,” said the midfielder.
On the corner that led to the opening goal of the game, Damsgaard added: “[Pinnock] is amazing; if you can hit him, you will score. We have a big focus on being good at set-pieces and we’ve been able to score from them in our last two games, which is amazing.”