United View: McTominay steals a crucial win for United against Brentford.

Manchester United was on track for a third successive league defeat at home with Brentford leading 1-0 going into stoppage time. But two unbelievably late goals from Scott McTominay lifted Old Trafford from utter despair into complete hysteria.

 So, whereabouts do you want your statue, Scott?

When the Scottish international was brought on in the 87th minute, I doubt even he believed he would have such a drastic impact on the game. Thankfully he did and helped produce scenes that Old Trafford hasn’t seen in a long time.

It felt fitting a Scottish player from the academy scored the winner at the weekend, following the unfortunate passing of Lady Cathy Ferguson. Hopefully, it brought some joy to Sir Alex and his family during a time of grief.

In his post-match interview, McTominay talked about how he was inspired by David Beckham’s recent documentary. Also saying that “Moments like this can change the dynamic.”

Another defeat would have put United in a truly worrying position, and it just goes to show how quickly the narrative can change with one result. The Reds were far from their best, but it can’t be understated how important that win could be.

Erik Ten Hag knows this too, in his post-match reaction he said, “Those games give fuel to the dressing room.” “Football is eat or get eaten.” His side now goes into the international break having eased some of the pressure, for now at least.

You could argue that the international break couldn’t have come at a worse time as momentum is as high as it has been so far from this season. However simultaneously, it does give Ten Hag a chance to analyse and some of his players time to recover.

Despite the win, the performance was again below expectations. Brentford’s goal summed up United’s defensive woes, with Casmeiro, Victor Lindelof and Andre Onana all making individual errors in the build-up to Mathias Jensen’s opener.

Casemiro was subsequently brought off at halftime for Christan Eriksen, with Ten Hag claiming he wanted “more football.” The Brazilian has fallen well below his usual standards after being vital to last year’s success.

Marcus Rashford was also substituted around the hour mark. Another key player from last year who has struggled with consistency. Without both of them contributing positively, United have struggled.

As he did last year, Ten Hag must adapt to this squad. All of his first-choice defenders were unavailable on Saturday and with key figures out of form, he needs to find a way to bring balance to this disjointed Manchester United team.

How he achieves that is yet to be seen, however, his side really ought to start taking more risks in the final third. If the front line can start racking up goals, the defence may start to feel more at ease. And after his brace, maybe McTominay has earned himself a recall into the starting eleven.

For most of his Manchester United career, he has been deployed in a deeper midfield role. With Scotland, he’s utilised in a more advanced position and has been prolific on international duty. At the very least he offers another attacking option for Ten Hag to consider.

Hopefully, his players come back with a new instilled confidence after such a dramatic turnaround and with their next fixture against Sheffield United, the Reds could profit against the struggling Blades. One or two solid performances could massively help build momentum at Old Trafford.

This is by no means suggesting it is all plane sailing from here. United still need to start playing much better than what they have done but if this result isn’t the turning point in what has been a disappointing campaign, I don’t know what is.