CHRIS WHEELER: Erik ten Hag might be able to breathe easier after Man United’s break-neck victory… but the Red Devils’ chronic injury list suggests there’s no end in sight to the crisis at Old Trafford

• Manchester United are struggling with injuries, especially in weakened defence
• But the Red Devils overcame the Bees without their strongest back four 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ 

For more than 90 minutes at Old Trafford, this looked like being a painfully familiar story for Manchester United. Another defeat, another limp performance and another stumble into full-blown crisis.

Then Scott McTominay, of all people, climbed off the bench to save the day with two injury-time goals to snatch a 2-1 win over Brentford as despair inside this grand old stadium turned to utter delirium.

It means Erik ten Hag can breathe a little easier during the international break. More than anything, the two-week hiatus will give the United boss time to get some players fit.

Because amid all the issues at the club right now, that has been the root of Ten Hag’s problems during an excruciating start to the season.

A chronic injury list is dragging the Dutchman under at a time when he is desperately trying to stay afloat, with United’s defence, in particular, decimated.

Erik ten Hag will hope Manchester United’s injury situation will improve in the next two weeks

Raphael Varane missed United’s win against Brentford to add to the problems facing ten Hag

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Of the 16 United players sidelined since the summer, seven have come from the back-four – Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Sergio Reguilon and Tyrell Malacia.

It’s now got so bad that some of them have been ruled out for a second and we’re only eight games in to the Premier League campaign.

After Martinez had another operation on his broken metatarsal on Monday and began a lay-off of up to three months, Varane was ruled out against Brentford just a fortnight after returning from a month’s absence.

It’s understood that the Frenchman could have played if this game was two days later, but it wasn’t so once again Ten Hag had to improvise.

Without arguably his strongest back-four of Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez and Shaw, the United boss put out a makeshift defence that saw Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans reprise their Leicester City partnership of 2018-19. Diogo Dalot stayed at right-back and central defender Victor Lindelof took over at left-back where midfielder Sofyan Amrabat has struggled in the last two games. Lindelof also appeared to pick up an injury when he was substituted and headed straight down the tunnel in the second half.

The Swede didn’t fare too much better during his 72 minutes on the pitch, in all honesty, and he was partly to blame when Brentford went ahead with their first ever Premier League goal at Old Trafford in the 26th minute.

Andre Onana has frequently played long balls with there being a lot of uncertainty in defence

The disappointing Casemiro lost possession close to halfway and Yoane Wissa broke forward into the box. Wissa’s pass found Lindelof who was backtracking but should still have done better than play the ball straight back to Brentford’s No.11.

It broke for Mathias Jensen who guided an effort beyond Lindelof’s desperate lunge. Should it have beaten Andre Onana? Probably not but United’s new goalkeeper has suffered more than most through playing behind an ever-changing defence this season.

Onana dived to his right and rather flapped at the ball as it crept under his right hand and over the line. It was the 19th goal United have conceded in 11 games this season and the fourth Premier League game in a row at Old Trafford that they have conceded first.

The Cameroonian was brought in this summer ostensibly because he is good with his feet. But the confidence in United’s rearguard is so low at present that he is knocking the ball long more often than not.

When he played it short to Evans moments before Brentford’s opening goal, the pass was under-hit and Evans was lucky that referee Andy Madley ruled that Bryan Mbeumo fouled the Northern Irishman when he won the ball off him.

United fielded a central-defensive partnership of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans

Another United defender, Victor Lindelof, appeared to pick up an injury and was substituted

After that, it became a re-run of last weekend’s defeat to Crystal Palace here, who scored at almost exactly the same moment in the first half and for easily held off United’s attempts to come back.

Ten Hag hooked Casemiro at half-time and then sent on Antony and Alejandro Garnacho for Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount, who has yet to provide any real evidence of why United blew £60million of a tight budget to sign him from Chelsea in the summer.

Then Ten Hag sent on Antony Martial. But after Onana produced two fingertip saves to keep United in the game, it was McTominay who came to the rescue twice in injury-time.

Could this be the turning point for Ten Hag? Time will tell, but the mood inside Old Trafford was transformed in an instant.

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