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Michael Owen has highlighted one eye-catching detail from Michael Carrick’s Manchester United side defeating Keith Andrews’ Brentford team at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
Casemiro broke the deadlock for Michael Carrick’s men in the opening 15 minutes before striker Benjamin Sesko inflicted another devastating blow before half-time.
Benjamin Sesko put Manchester United 2-0 up against Brentford and Keith Andrews’ men tried to rally back against the Red Devils at Old Trafford in the second half.
Mathias Jensen scored from a late strike for the Bees in the Premier League tie, but United avoided losing their advantage over Brentford before the full-time whistle.
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport via Getty Images Do Man Utd deserve more credit for being in third place?
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Getty Images Michael Owen pinpoints the importance of Michael Carrick’s Man Utd change against Brentford
Manchester United legend Michael Carrick made the surprise call after the break to make an immediate tactical change by taking off Amad Diallo from Monday’s win.
Noussair Mazraoui took to the field in place of Amad Diallo and Carrick’s tactics for Man Utd changed, with the Red Devils shifting from his 4-2-3-1 formation.
United used a variation of a 3-4-1-2 and 5-3-2 set-up – similar to what they did under Ruben Amorim – for the second half of their performance against Brentford.
Speaking on Premier League Productions, Michael Owen claimed that Carrick’s tactical tweak altered the “flow” of the Premier League match at Old Trafford.
“[Keith Andrews] would have been disappointed going in 2-0 at half-time, they had more than enough chances to score at least one goal,” he said, as per the Premier League’s official website.
“I think Keith Andrews would have been delighted in the second half, but Michael Carrick made a real decisive change at half-time to change the flow of the game.”
Who was your Manchester United man of the match vs Brentford?
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images Michael Owen on the difference between Man Utd vs Brentford in the first half vs the second half after Michael Carrick’s tweak
Owen insisted that the entire tempo of the match altered after a yo-yo back-and-forth first half between Brentford and United completely changed after the break.
“He didn’t want that basketball, end-to-end football that he’d seen in the first half, despite them being 2-0 ahead,” he added.
“The first half was riveting to watch, [the] second half was basically Brentford in possession trying to score a goal, and Man Utd saw it out in the end.
“Some people will say, ‘Good game management,’ some will say, ‘You should have gone for the kill and tried to get the third goal.’ Whatever way you look at it, it’s a big three points.”
United are third in the Premier League table and the Red Devils are three points clear of fourth-place Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s showdown at Old Trafford.
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