Manchester United play their third pre-season friend of the summer against newcomer Premier League team Brentford at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
The summary ended as a 2-2 draw after the recent defeat against QPR and the victory over Derby when United work towards the opening match of the Premier League season against Leeds on 14 August.
Here’s a look at some takeaways from the match …
30,000 fans can watch the match at Old Trafford / Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
The easing of the crown restrictions meant that 10,000 fans were allowed to participate in the last home game last season against Fulham, only a fraction of full capacity.
But Old Trafford looked a little more normal on Wednesday night when 30,000 eager fans watched the game live, the highest attendance figure since March 2020.
Since fans have been absent, a number of changes and upgrades have been made to Old Trafford, with new safe standing seats installed, new LED headlights, a new rearranged pitch.
After much criticism over years of underinvestment in the arena, it was also seen on social media that the outside of Old Trafford looks as if it has also had a lick of color.
Anthony Elanga scored his second goal before the season / Nathan Stirk / Getty Images
Teen winger Anthony Elanga broke into the first team at the end of last season, started and scored against Wolves on the final day, and makes a real claim to stay this week. This is despite an earlier expectation that he would go out on loan.
The 19-year-old scored in the previous friendly against QPR and was again on the points side against Brentford and placed United early with a fine volley.
There will be fierce competition for places from Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Edinson Cavani, Daniel James and teammates, Amad Diallo, but Solskjaer said after the match Elanga that gives him a “big problem”.
“Players who score goals and have that enthusiasm and energy … we want to play a pressing game and there are no frills [with him]. If they give you reasons to like them and they give you reasons to play them, you have to play them, Solskjær explained via ManUtd.com.
Andreas Pereira made sure he was not forgotten yet / PAUL ELLIS / Getty Images
It will ultimately not make him more likely to lead a first-team place after struggling last season on loan at Lazio, but Andreas Pereira marked his first appearance at Old Trafford since August 2020 with a thundering volley that would be an automatic shoo-in for the season’s goal if it had been done in a competitive match.
It was a nice moment for the Brazilian and emphasized his ability to pull off the spectacular. However, he will remain in excess of the requirements if nothing drastically changes.
Man Utd is still without most of the starters / Nathan Stirk / Getty Images
United could only draw the game, but Solskjaer said he was pleased with the attacking performance and there is still plenty of room to grow and improve.
“I especially enjoyed the first half,” the manager explained via ManUtd.com. “I thought we played good combination games, we played through the lines. Of course, [Brentford] defended well inside his box but I thought some of the football was magnificent.
“It was a good goal from them too, who hit by the way, but they did not have much else. I was very happy with the first half. The second half was a bit more messy as it will always be during the pre-season with lots of changes but it was a big step forward I felt. ”
United are still without most of their regular starters, and of the 18 players used for 90 minutes, perhaps only Mason Greenwood and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be in the line-up coming on the first day of the Premier League season in a couple of weeks. time.
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