Brentford used cheeky tactic to delay Bruno Fernandes penalty in win vs Man Utd

TNT Sport co-commentator Lucy Ward has insinuated that Brentford head coach Keith Andrews intentionally made a double substitution ahead of Bruno Fernandes' penalty to delay the captain taking his spot-kick. United were granted a penalty when Bryan Mbeumo was dragged down by Nathan Collins in the box while looking to score.

Ruben Amorim's squad were piling on the pressure to equalise after Igor Thiago netted twice within the first 20 minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium. Benjamin Sesko reduced the gap with his first goal for the Red Devils. As the match neared its conclusion, United were awarded a third penalty of the season when Collins brought down Mbeumo inside Brentford's penalty area following Matheus Cunha's early cross. Referee Craig Pawson signalled for a penalty after a brief pause, before the video assistant referee reviewed the footage for a potential red card.

Collins avoided a sending off, and Fernandes failed to convert the penalty, marking his second miss from the spot this season. However, due to the VAR check, the Portuguese player had to endure nearly five minutes of waiting between the penalty being awarded and taken.

A further delay was caused by a double substitution from the home team. Andrews brought on Keane Lewis-Potter and Rico Henry in place of Dango Outtarra and Aaron Hickey.

Fernandes took the penalty but was thwarted by Caoimhin Kelleher, who dived low to deny the United skipper. During TNT Sports' coverage of the match in the capital, Ward suggested that the double substitution was a deliberate move. "He (Keith Andrews) did that on purpose and he's got his reward for it," she claimed.

United manager Ruben Amorim said to TNT Sports post-match: "Of course we want to win. We didn't control the game. We played the game of Brentford. First balls, second balls, set pieces. All the crucial moments were against us. Tough to lose again but we need to think about the next one.

"The first goal was a long ball. We worked on that in the week, and on set pieces. We knew the long balls (were coming) and one touch they had the opportunity. We need to do better. We didn't play our game. We only had control for some moments.

"But it was more or less all the same. We need to play our games, not the opponents, but they were stronger on that. It is always the same to lose at this club, it hurts a lot. We need to think about the next one."