‘Really impressive’ – Shearer singles out improving star in Manchester United attack

Manchester United ended a five-match winless streak across all competitions with a Premier League win over Brentford on Saturday.

The visitors controversially opened the scoring before the half-time whistle, but United showed a degree of character in the second half to come from behind and win 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Beautiful goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund completed the comeback and sent the Reds to securing three points.

A lot of players stood out after the break once things clicked on the pitch for United. The front three threatened throughout and managed goalscoring contributions, which caught Alan Shearer’s attention on Match of the Day on Saturday night.

Shearer spoke about United’s front three against Brentford before singling out Hojlund for praise.

“The positives today were without a doubt the front three in Garnacho, Rashford and Hojlund,” Shearer said.

“I thought they more than played their part and were a constant threat for large parts of the game. They linked up well, getting their shots away at goal. I thought Hojlund was really impressive.

“A lot of times having to do the dirty work and holding defenders off. It allowed the other two to play a more forward role.”

Hojlund deserved his goal

He added: “Hojlund deserved this goal because of his work rate, the flick from Bruno [Fernandes] is sublime. But that is a really clever finish. Still got a lot to do.

“This will do wonders for his confidence, his first goal of the Premier League season, but that has to be on a regular basis now.”

It bodes well for United that Hojlund and other attacking players are beginning to hit form. Patience is required with the Danish striker because we were without him for the start of the season due to a hamstring injury.

Now he is back on the pitch and back amongst the goals.

With Alejandro Garnacho scoring and Marcus Rashford recording an assist, the signs are good for United. Erik ten Hag will hope his team can build some momentum and go on a winning run to get their season on track.