While Manchester United were celebrating Europa glory in Bilbao on Thursday, Brentford’s defeat of Nottingham Forest in midweek had already confirmed the 20-times champions would finish the season in the bottom half for the first time since 1990. Defeat at the G-Tech made it 16 league losses for United, matching the count from that same year of 1990. Not even a late comeback and improvement protected their modesty.
Brentford, after much the better Premier League season, were facing a yet more underpowered United selection than normal, even for this domestic season of historic mediocrity. A deserved home victory was secured via a fine headed double from Kevin Schade and Yoane Wissa tap-in following a first that came after some of the comically lax defending that has been a feature of United’s season.
