EPL: Erik Ten Hag’s nightmare continues as Brentford sting Man U four times

Erik Ten Hag’s nightmare start to his coaching tenure at Manchester United has extended itself as the Red Devils found themselves ripped apart during their weekend trip to West London.

Following a punishing opening-day loss at home to Brighton, who also handed them a four-nil trashing during the second half of last season, the superstar Dutch coach would have been hoping to redeem himself with their second game week clash against Brentford. However, it quickly became evident that it was going to be another disappointing day in the office for Ten Hag.

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Within ten minutes, Josh Dasilva sent the Bees ahead after trying his luck from distance and managed to beat David de Gea; the Spaniard fumbled the shot and allowed it to squirm underneath him and trickle into the net. The goal might have been a result of fortuitous circumstances, but it was just the beginning of Manchester United’s bad day.

Eighteen minutes later, Mathias Jensen pounced on another defensive error to send de Gea diving the wrong way and slot home inside the box.

If United had been expecting it to end there, they were in for a rude awakening despite wantaway striker Cristiano Ronaldo geeing his teammates up and trying to get them to go again, even after their wasteful attitudes at the back and Ten Hag’s already exasperated reaction.

Sadly for the veteran, it failed to have the intended impact, as the Bees were not done stinging. Ben Mee headed the ball in from underneath the crossbar following a laughable defending from a corner, which led to a Ronaldo reaction that summed up what all United fans were feeling. Despair.

However, the best was still to come, and it did ten minutes before the interval as Bryan Mbuemo tied the bow on a swashbuckling counter-attack with a smooth-as-silk finish.

The Red Devils now sit at the bottom of the table, with zero points and a negative five-goal difference, while Brentford sits at third place, with four points and a goal difference of four following their recent win and a draw last week against Leicester City.

Erik Ten Hag is also the first Manchester United manager in over 100 years to lose their first two league games.

Manchester City trash Bournemouth four to nothing

The number four seems to be a prevalent one in Manchester this weekend, as Manchester City treated recent PL2 qualifiers AFC Bournemouth to a four-course meal at the other end of the city.

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Right from the start, it looked to be a good day to wear blue as The Citizens put the pressure early on with several chances narrowly missed. However, Bournemouth’s luck finally ran out in the 19th minute following super-signing Erling Haaland’s determined assist to Ilkay Gundogan, who finished sublimely.

Belgian superstar Kevin De Bruyne went on to double the lead in the 31st minute with a slick outside-of-the-boot finish from the edge of the box, and Phil Foden made it three six minutes later, even as Haaland found himself repeatedly thwarted in front of goal.

Bournemouth’s woes would end up being compounded by one more, as attacking wing-back Joao Cancelo had his cross deflected in by Jefferson Lerma in the 79th minute. Manchester City now sits on top of the table with six points and a goal difference of six, while Bournemouth fell to 10th position with three points and a negative two-goal difference.