Fans' Eriksen respect appreciated

Our home faithful at both ends of the Theatre of Dreams applauded Eriksen on several occasions during his first appearance at the ground since suffering a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at last summer’s European Championship. 

Eriksen, whose last appearance in M16 came for Tottenham back in December 2019, was warmly embraced when going over to take the visitors’ corners at either end of the stadium across the 90 minutes. 

After the match, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank spoke of his admiration for the support received by his player, who has made a remarkable return to action since signing for the London club earlier in the season.

“I loved the touch from the Manchester United fans for the two corners, one either side [when they applauded him], that was very good," said Frank. 

"He [Eriksen] performed well."

Despite being on the wrong end of the 3-0 scoreline, Eriksen impressed at Old Trafford and looked dangerous via his trademark passing and set-piece qualities throughout the game. 

The Dane most notably tested the Reds' rearguard on multiple occasions, having produced a sublime ball from deep in the opening seconds of the game that nearly led to a rapid-fire opener for the visitors.

Eriksen and his team-mates’ efforts on the evening were ultimately in vain however, with Frank reserving some credit for the Reds’ performance in ensuring that was the case.

"United were on top of the game, without creating chance after chance, they had one top moment for the 1-0 game, credit to them for that situation. They didn’t create much but they were a bit on the ball in the first half. We were too hectic in spells. 

“Fair play to Manchester United, they hit a very high performance first half, one of their best performances that I’ve seen recently,” the Bees’ head coach added.

“We were on top of the game [in the second half] and then we made a stupid mistake for the penalty, an unnecessary mistake. If we want to win at Old Trafford, we can’t concede that penalty and we can’t concede from a set-piece."