Gary Neville left stunned by Man United’s ‘dismal’ performance against Brentford and jokes he’d have started a petition if the Red Devils had won

• Brentford dominated the clash against United from start to finish but fell behind 
• Mason Mount opened his account for Red Devils before Kristoffer Ajer equalised 
• Why Roberto De Zerbi should be in the running to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast 

Gary Neville has shared his amazement at Manchester United’s performance against Brentford and joked that he would have started a petition to give the Bees two points back if the Red Devils had won. 

The 1-1 scoreline at the Gtech Stadium on Saturday night did little to tell the story of the game.  

Thomas Frank’s side had 31 shots against United, missed a host of big chances and ended the tie with an xG of more than three compared to the visitor’s 0.59. 

But Mason Mount’s first Man United goal in the sixth-minute of stoppage time looked to have stolen victory only for the Bees to finally find the back of the net three minutes later through Kristoffer Ajer. 

Neville gave his insight on the fixture and revealed that he was in disbelief over the performance.   

‘I watched them last night and couldn’t believe really what I was watching.’ he said on The Gary Neville Podcast. ‘I thought they would put a bit of pressure on Tottenham and Villa in the run-in. It’s actually really difficult to play that badly. 

‘Honestly, it really is you know. I can’t think of any point in that game, maybe the first few minutes, where they did anything well at all. 

‘It was a horrible performance to the point where when Mason Mount scored, I think we may have had to start a petition to give Brentford two points back.

‘It was absolute robbery. But then Brentford score. I can’t explain that performance, I’ve no idea where it comes from. Very worrying that you can go to that level of low. 

‘You know you can play badly in football, you know you sometimes don’t feel quite right.

‘But that was a dismal, dismal effort in an attempt to play football, in an attempt to work as hard as you possibly can. When you give the ball away, their reaction is non-existent. They really are one of the worst teams out of possession.’

That result, combined with others during the weekend, ensured that Erik ten Hag’s side fell eight points behind Tottenham in fifth, which is expected to be enough to earn Champions League football next term. 

It was an abrupt coming down to earth for supporters following their thrilling 4-3 FA Cup victory over Liverpool in their final game before the international break a fortnight ago. 

United will again lock horns with Jurgen Klopp’s side, who moved into top spot with a win over Brighton and Manchester City’s draw against Arsenal, on Sunday. And Neville admitted that Ten Hag’s men will have a serious challenge to repeat their feat. 

‘What we’ve seen from Arsenal today, the levels of defending compactness, the work ethic of all the front players to be a cohesive unit and defend together, there’s none of that,’ Neville added.

‘I’m not saying the defenders or midfield players are blameless because they could do a lot better themselves. But there’s just not a unity at all. There’s no idea of how to defend or how to play without the ball.

‘Just worrying signs really that you can get to that level of low in a performance. You think back to before the international break and where Manchester United were at. They had one of the most incredible moments and should be absolutely bouncing into Brentford.

‘But then we saw what we saw. They won’t be that bad next week, they can’t be that bad. But if Liverpool do their jobs next week then Manchester United are going to be in a lot of trouble. There will be something different, it can’t get any worse.’