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Manchester United secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Brentford in their last home game of the 2021-22 Premier League season at Old Trafford on Monday, 2 May.
Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane got on the scoresheet as the beleaguered Red Devils snapped their three-game winless run in the league with a routine victory.
Meanwhile, Thomas Frank's Brentford missed the chance to temporarily leapfrog Newcastle United into tenth place in the league table. The Bees now find themselves in 14th place with 40 points from 35 games.
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Manchester United, who were coming off defeats to rivals Liverpool and Arsenal as well as a draw to Chelsea, were barely stretched by newly promoted Brentford. Rangnick's side enjoyed 65 percent possession and put five of their nine shots on target, while Brentford had 12 attempts but could only hit the target with four of them.
Fernandes opened the scoring in the ninth minute before a second-half penalty from Ronaldo and a rare set-piece goal from Varane sealed the deal. The win took Ralf Rangnick's men to 58 points from 36 games and helped them tighten their grip on sixth place.
However, qualification to next season's UEFA Champions League seems beyond reach for the Red Devils. They currently trail fourth-placed Arsenal by five points despite having played two more games than Mikel Arteta's side. On that note, here are five talking points from a one-sided affair at Old Trafford.
#5 Old Trafford bids goodbye to Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata
Monday's fixture was Manchester United's final home game of the 2021-22 season. The game saw interim boss Ralf Rangnick hand starts to Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata, two veterans who have operated in peripheral roles this campaign.
Matic, who joined United from Chelsea for £40 million in 2017, recently announced his decision to leave the Red Devils at the end of the ongoing campaign. The 33-year-old Serbian defensive midfielder is under contract until 2023 but will end his United tenure without winning a major trophy. The game against Brentford was the 188th outing of his Red Devils career.
Spanish attacking midfielder Juan Mata also arrived from the Blues for £40 million in 2014. The 34-year-old has made 283 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 51 goals and providing 47 assists. Mata has won four trophies during his time in Manchester - an FA Cup, a Carabao Cup, a Europa League and a Community Shield. He is out of contract this summer and is not expected to be offered a new deal.
The duo received warm applause from the Old Trafford faithful after they were subbed off in what was most probably their last home appearance for the club.
#4 Bruno Fernandes reaches landmark for Manchester United
27-year-old Portuguese attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes scored the opening goal of the night after tucking in Anthony Elanga's cross early in the game. It was Fernandes' 50th goal for Manchester United and came in his 124th game for the club.
He also has 39 assists to his name and has been the Red Devils' most consistent performer since arriving from Sporting Lisbon for £56.7 million in January 2020. It was also Fernandes' 10th goal of the 2021-22 campaign, which means he has hit double figures for goals in each of his three seasons since arriving in England.
#3 Raphael Varane scores his first goal for the Red Devils
The Red Devils' signing of 29-year-old French centre-back Raphael Varane from Real Madrid for £36 million last summer was considered a stroke of brilliance at the time. However, the move has not yielded the desired results.
Injuries and fitness issues have restricted Varane to 28 appearances this season, of which 21 have come in the Premier League. Meanwhile, United have failed to win a trophy and have conceded 52 league goals. That is the second-worst defensive record in the top-half of the table, behind Newcastle United in 10th place (56).
However, the Frenchman turned in an assured display against Brentford and finally scored his first goal for the Red Devils by tucking in a corner kick. The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner's excellent record for France and Real Madrid is a testament to his quality and United fans will hope he can kick on next season.
#2 Brentford's four-game unbeaten league run comes to an end
Brentford and Thomas Frank are enjoying a decent 2021-22 season after securing promotion to the top flight in the previous campaign. Things are tight in the bottom half of the league table as just two points separate Southampton in 15th and Leicester City in 11th.
Coming to Old Trafford, the Bees were on a strong four-game unbeaten run that included a 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month. Brentford had also beaten West Ham United and held Tottenham Hotspur to a draw in recent weeks. However, they were completely outclassed by Rangnick's Red Devils on Monday and saw their streak broken by the hosts.
Nonetheless, the Bees' safety is all but certain and they will look to kick on next season.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo makes it three goals in three games
Despite Manchester United's failure to win their last two games (a 2-1 loss to Arsenal and a 1-1 draw with Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo's impressive individual displays saw him find the net in both fixtures. The Portuguese superstar scored three goals in three games after dispatching a second-half penalty against Brentford.
More impressively, the 37-year-old won the penalty himself after displaying terrific strength to bully Rico Henry off the ball. With United set to miss out on next season's UEFA Champions League, questions have been raised over Ronaldo's willingness to continue at Old Trafford beyond this season.
But for now, the talismanic forward continues to bang them in and has netted 24 goals in 38 games for a struggling Red Devils team.
