Scott McTominay’s stoppage-time brace denied Brentford all three points at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

Mathias Jensen steered Thomas Frank’s side ahead from inside the penalty area on 26 minutes as the Bees took a deserved lead into half time.

After the break, Brentford defended manfully and presented a threat on the break. Christian Nørgaard and Neal Maupay both saw efforts tipped over by Andre Onana but there was to be late heartbreak.

Introduced in the closing stages of normal time, McTominay drilled home an equaliser three minutes past the 90 before flicking the winner beyond Thomas Strakosha with the last action of the game.

Brentford lead at the interval thanks to Jensen’s first-time finish

Brentford’s long list of absentees grew by another two for the trip to Old Trafford.

Mark Flekken came down ill on the morning of the match and was replaced by Strakosha for his Premier League debut. Keane Lewis-Potter was also sidelined due to a calf injury, the ninth member of the squad unavailable to Frank, with his place in the starting XI taken by Mads Roerslev. That change also saw a change in formation with the Bees head coach opting for a back three while Bryan Mbeumo partnered Yoane Wissa up front.

United also made two changes from their last outing, a 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace. Raphael Varane dropped out due to injury and Harry Maguire came in to replace him at centre-back. Meanwhile, Jonny Evans was preferred to Facundo Pellestri. That change saw a shuffling of the formation with Victor Lindelof moving out to left-back, Sofyan Amrabat partnering Casemiro in a double pivot, and Mason Mount taking Pellestri’s place in a three behind Rasmus Højlund.

Defending deep and restricting any space in behind, Brentford forced United to play their game in the opening 45 minutes. The home side’s frustration resulted in a succession of crosses being tossed into the box which Ethan Pinnock, Kristoffer Ajer and Nathan Collins had no problems dealing with.

And on the break, Brentford posed a threat. Wissa and Mbeumo were willing runners, isolating Evans and Maguire in wide areas and helping the Bees get up the pitch.

Brentford started brightly. While United saw the majority of the ball, it was the visitors who created the early chances.

Aaron Hickey fired two well-struck long-range efforts narrowly off target, Mbeumo just failed to connect with an acrobatic effort, and Wissa had a shot blocked by the legs of Evans inside the opening 15 minutes.

United’s sole effort on Strakosha’s goal was a tame Marcus Rashford header which skipped well wide.

Ajer and Pinnock made well-timed blocks to divert away shots by Diogo Dalot and Mason Mount, in between which Mbeumo’s teasing free-kick was just evaded in the six-yard box, before Brentford struck.

Brentford’s desire to protect their box didn’t mean that they weren’t pressing much higher up the pitch. Mbeumo closed down Casemiro on the edge of the centre circle and the Bees had the numbers to take advantage. Wissa’s first ball into the box was cleared back to him but his second dropped perfectly for Jensen to sweep home left footed from 10 yards – Onana probably feeling he should have done more to keep the low shot out.

A goal to the good, Brentford’s backline continued to frustrate United whenever they got close, meaning it took the hosts 37 minutes to register an effort on target – when it came Strakosha dealt comfortably with Rashford’s near-post drive.

Indeed, the better chances heading towards the interval were for Brentford to make it two. Mbeumo’s curling effort from 25 yards beat Onana but bounced just past the post while Collins couldn’t turn home Janelt’s near-post flick-on following a corner.

McTominay’s stoppage-time brace sends the Bees home empty-handed

Former Bee Christian Eriksen was introduced for Casemiro at the break, giving United another offensive threat.

The home side saw plenty of the ball in the opening 15 minutes of the half but that translated to just a long-range Eriksen shot, beaten away by Strakosha, and Rashford’s wild drive from the left-hand angle of the box.

The Bees’ best moment before the hour mark ended with Dalot hacking clear Collins’ flick out from under his own bar.

It was only in the final 30 minutes, which included the introduction of Antony, Alejandro Garnacho and Anthony Martial, that United really began to pen Brentford back in.

Dalot fired Mount’s knock-down over, Højlund drove a shot into the side netting, and Fernandes brought a full-stretch save out of Strakosha from just outside the D.

Garnacho and Fernandes both sent shots fizzing over Strakosha’s bar before Brentford had two quickfire chances to settle things.

Evans dallied when Hickey’s long ball was knocked down by Dalot, allowing Neal Maupay to nick it away from him. Seeing Onana slightly off his line, Maupay went for goal but the United keeper recovered to tip the shot behind.

He was called into an almost identical save from the resulting corner as Nørgaard flicked the near-post delivery across goal and towards the far corner.

McTominay’s introduction for Amrabat after 88 minutes received a mixed response from the home fans but that would all soon change.

Before the Scot’s match-changing intervention, the Bees survived a scare when Ajer deflected Martial’s flick into his own net, but the assistant referee spotted that the United man was offside from Dalot’s initial cutback.

That reprieve was short lived when, three minutes into stoppage-time, Dalot’s blocked shot was pushed away by Strakosha only to drop for McTominay to steer into the bottom-left corner.

A point would still have been a just reward for Brentford’s efforts, but Frank’s side would be denied even that as Maguire flicked on a free-kick and McTominay beat the offside trap to head home, despite Strakosha’s best efforts in goal.

Andrew Madley blew up for full-time before the Bees had even had time to properly kick off, confirming a most heart-breaking of defeats.

Brentford: Strakosha; Ajer, Pinnock, Collins; Roerslev, Nørgaard, Janelt (Onyeka 70), Jensen (Ghoddos 83), Hickey; Mbeumo, Wissa (Maupay 70)

Subs not used: Balcombe, Zanka, Yarmoliuk, Ji-soo, Olakigbe, Brierley

Manchester United: Onana; Dalot, Maguire, Evans, Lindelof (Martial 71); Casemiro (Eriksen HT), Amrabat (McTominay 87); Fernandes, Mount (Antony 63), Rashford (Garnacho 63); Højlund

Subs not used: Bayindir, Pellistri, van de Beek, Hannibal

Frank: That's football when it's most brutal

On the defeat, head coach Thomas Frank expressed his frustration at losing the game in stoppage-time but, again, as he has been on multiple occasions this campaign, was pleased with his side’s performance.

"Of course, it’s very tough to take and to lose in the way we did, leading in the 93rd minute, so that's tough,” the Bees boss said. 

“But that's football when it's the most brutal. In general, we played a pretty good game. The first half was close to perfect, in terms of the high pressure, the build-up play, the counters, the way we defended, and I think we were well deserved 1-0 up. 

“Second half, we defended a little bit more but still defended well; I don't think they anything until the equaliser.” 

He added: “There’s a good energy in the group. Of course everybody is down now, but we train well, we keep doing the right things, and if we keep putting in performances like that, we will win football matches.” 

Janelt: It’s nice to have a good performance but we want the points

Midfielder Vitaly Janelt cut a disappointed figure following Brentford's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

“We played a very good game, and at 90 minutes we were leading at Old Trafford. Then, in five minutes, they turn around the game and win 2-1,” he said.

“We have to finish a counter or a set-piece to make it 2-0; that’s the only thing I would say we can do better.

“It’s nice to have a good performance but obviously we want the points. Sometimes I don’t care if we play s***t, as long as we get three points. We can turn it around together.”