Thomas Frank says Brentford ‘destroyed’ Manchester United in first half of Premier League clash and they were ‘unbelievably lucky’ to beat his ‘little’ side 3-1

Thomas Frank branded Manchester United ‘unbelievably lucky’ to beat ‘little Brentford’.

The Bees boss felt his side deserved much more from Wednesday night’s Premier League fixture, which ended 3-1 to United.

Brentford dominated in the first half at their Community Stadium, missing numerous chances, while David de Gea was kept busy in the United goal.

But they were made to pay in the second half as Anthony Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford struck for the visitors, before Ivan Toney grabbed a late consolation.

Despite the defeat, Frank was bullish about his side’s performance – insisting they deserved much more against a club with far greater riches.

“Unbelievably proud of my team. We are the smallest club in the Premier League, Manchester United the biggest,” he said.

“We destroyed them in the first half, they didn’t have a sniff, three huge chances and there could only have been one winner of this game.

“They are unbelievably lucky.

“I know all the stuff about taking chances. They changed the system against little Brentford.

“One of those nights, fair play to David de Gea, if we get those chances again one will go in the back of the net. Our intensity killed them, we showed that in the first half, we played the Brentford way.

“Of the three goals, the second is most disappointing and difficult to come back from. The way we smashed them in the first half was fantastic, so proud of my team.”

Opposite number Ralf Rangnick, meanwhile, admitted he was not happy with the first half performance of his side.

But he was delighted with their response after the break.

On his half-time team talk, he said “I wouldn’t say a strong conversation but obviously we had to change a few things; first half we were not good in all aspects of the game.

“We gave away almost every second ball. In the second half we were more urgent, we were attacking them high up the pitch.”

Rangnick also played down a show of petulance from Cristiano Ronaldo, who threw a strop at being substituted when United were leading 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining.

He said: “It’s normal, he’s a striker and wants to score goals. He came back from a little injury and for me it is important to bear in mind we have another game in a few days’ time.

“We were 2-0 up, the same result at Villa Park and I decided to defend that lead this time and it was the right decision to switch to a back five.”