Erik ten Hag has said Brentford ‘wanted it more’ after Manchester United dropped points with a 1-1 draw at the struggling Bees.
United’s hopes of Champions League football suffered another setback after a draw in west London, a fixture that saw the Red Devils drop points after opening the scoring in the 96th minute.
Ten Hag’s team had weathered a strong storm from the home side, who hit the woodwork four times, with Brentford’s 85 touches in the opposition box the highest total a Premier League team has recorded in the last five years.
United looked to have snatched an unlikely win when substitute Mason Mount opened the scoring in stoppage time, but Brentford struck moments later as Kristoffer Ajer hit a 99th minute equaliser in a compelling conclusion.
“We made some mistakes and we have to talk about this of course. We should act differently in that occasion where we conceded the equaliser, we should have acted differently in that situation,” Ten Hag said at his post-match press conference.
“As I say if you are in stoppage time and you score that goal, which maybe we didn’t deserve, then I have to make compliments to the team that they hang [on] in the game. They were fighting but I did think Brentford wanted it more during the whole course of the game but we have to take it over the whole game, take it [beyond] the time.”
Ten Hag was keep not to downplay an impressive performance from Brentford and said his team are not the only side to have struggled against the Bees this season.
“Don’t lower the performances from Brentford because I have seen them against Man City and City were also lucky to win that game. I have seen them against Liverpool and in the first 35 minutes Brentford should have taken the lead. We should have done this better.
“I’m not happy with the performance, it’s no misunderstanding. The players are also disappointed by the performance but we should be consistent in the way we take a game, we [need to] go in a game and perform and show more aggressiveness especially.
“I thought we were good in certain situations and when we were winning, we didn’t deserve it, but we should take the winning and do so more often. We were fighting and we created some great chances and Andre Onana was fantastic tonight. Rasmus Hojlund had a great chance. When you make the winning goal that is when you must bring it over the line. I am very pleased for Mason [Mount] but I also feel sorry for him as it should have been the winner.”
