Manchester United v Brentford ratings: Rashford 8, Fernandes 7; Mbeumo 4, Toney 7

England striker on target as United secure first Premier League win since February

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea - 7. Couple of lapses of concentration in the Mancunian drizzle – and Ivan Toney almost scored from one - but he stood his ground well in one second half Brentford attack and was flattened by Kevin Schade for his troubles. Getty

Diogo Dalot - 6. Energy and attacked a lot on the right in front of the 73,309 crowd. Getty

Raphael Varane - 7. It’s not easy against Toney and Bryan Mbeumo, but the Frenchman and his Argentinian foil stopped them from scoring. Excellent in the air. Reuters

Lisandro Martinez - 7. Solid alongside Varane and a much better night for him than when he last played against Brentford and conceded four in the first half. He’s a key United player. Reuters

Luke Shaw - 6. Hobbled off holding what appeared to be his hamstring after 37 minutes. He was already on a yellow card, too. But he’d started brightly. AP

Scott McTominay - 7. A better night for him. Tireless. Shot over, but one of United’s best performers. Passed forward, intercepted and stopped Brentford’s attacks. Booked for a late tackle. Reuters

Marcel Sabitzer - 7. His second league start in succession – a first for him. Played in a more advanced role and headed the ball cleverly for Rashford to score. He was surrounded by five Brentford players when he did that. It was one of eight headers that he won. AP

Bruno Fernandes - 7. An influence on the game, his had 114 touches and the next busiest player on the pitch had 88. Three key passes, not that they led to a goal. Booked. Never stopped. AFP

Antony - 7. Curled a shot wide, put the ball to Sabitzer to set up goal. Volleyed a Rashford cross wide. The team who’d gone three league games without a goal only managed the one – and it was good enough to put United back into the top four. The Brazilian is usually a threat from distance. EPA

Marcus Rashford - 8. Played centrally and half volleyed the only goal into roof of the net, his 28th United goal of an excellent season for him. It was also his 10th match-winning goal in the league. Only Napoli’s Victor Osimhen has scored more than him since the World Cup. Getty

Jadon Sancho - 7. Neat, steady and better than in recent matches, but hardly a game changer. Needs a big uptick in performances. The forwards were better without Weghorst starting. PA

SUBS: Tyrell Malacia (Shaw, 37) - 6. Fine – and exactly why he was bought. AP

Fred (Sabitzer, 71) - 6. His 200th United appearance. Teed up by Rashford in front of the Stretford End where he’s scored so many this season, but he shot over the bar. Getty

Anthony Martial (Sancho, 71) - 7. Limited impact. He’s quality and an upgrade on Weghorst, but injury prone and has been of almost no value to United this season. AFP

Victor Lindelof (Antony, 86) - N/A. Reuters

BRENTFORD RATINGS: David Raya - 6. Showed good hands to cling on to Rashford’s low strike that skidded off the surface after the latter had earlier beaten him all ends up to open the scoring. Imposed himself again when he clung on to Sabitzer’s speculative effort. Getty

Mads Roerslev - 4. Struggled to contain the spirited Luke Shaw prior to the United man’s early exit with injury and he was terrorised by Rashford too. A tough night for the defender who was withdrawn for the final 15 minutes. AFP

Pontus Jansson - 5. Produced an important header to see off an inviting corner from Shaw, but just couldn’t handle Rashford, who almost benefitted from a major mix-up between the Swede and Pinnock. AFP

Ethan Pinnock - 6. Showed excellent strength to bully Antony off the ball as Brentford soaked up pressure. He survived a lapse in communication with Jansson but held firm beyond that and produced a couple of stooping headers to keep United to just the one goal. AP

Ben Mee, 6 – The former Burnley man has enjoyed a fine season, but even he couldn’t keep out the relentless hosts despite a respectable performance at the back. With that said, he allowed Antony room to cut inside on a couple of occasions. Reuters

Rico Henry - 6. Fizzed a set piece straight behind and miscontrolled another pass at the cost of a United throw. Worked tirelessly and saw a decent cross hacked away late on. EPA

Mikkel Damsgaard - 6. A quiet first half followed by a frantic second, Floated a beautiful ball across goal that evaded everyone but went into the book for dragging down McTominay minutes later. Needlessly scythed down by Fernandes on the break as the latter saw yellow. Getty

Christian Norgaard - 5. Enjoyed a physical battle with McTominay in the middle, including an aerial duel that left the former needing some treatment. Booked for stopping a counter-attack and was replaced for the final 15 minutes. Getty

Mathias Jensen - 6. Tried his best to make an impact but he was neutralised by the dominance of United’s midfield for large spells. He was forced to hurdle a wild challenge from McTominay who was booked, and later saw his deep delivery flicked over by Toney. PA

Brian Mbeumo - 4. Opened United up for the first time with a brilliant one-two, but he was marshalled well by Martinez and never really found his feet after that. Saw his cross scooped away by McTominay as Brentford hunted an equaliser. Reuters

Ivan Toney - 7. Unlucky to see the ball cannon wide after he brilliantly charged down De Gea’s clearance. Unleashed Schade with a beautiful flick and went close with a deft chip that dropped just over the bar in stoppage time. Getty

SUBS: Shandon Baptiste (Damsgaard, ‘62) - 7. Created the space to shoot with a beautiful touch, only to see the relentless McTominay hurl himself in the way of the strike. Almost bundled himself a direct route to goal before Toney went close. AFP

Kevin Schade (Mbeumo, ‘62) - 6. Squandered a huge chance to level when he raced through, but De Gea stood strong and the bewildered forward seemed to run straight into the Spaniard. AFP

Josh Dasilva (Jensen, ‘62) - 7. Injected some vital energy into Brentford's play as the visitors impressively dragged themselves back into the contest. Getty

Aaron Hickey (Roerslev, ‘75) - N/A. Yoane Wissa (Norgaard, ‘75), N/A. EPA

Marcus Rashford sent Manchester United back into the Premier League top four as they beat Brentford 1-0 at Old Trafford.

United had slipped to fifth after a run of three league games without a win and cup commitments that meant they had not registered a league win since February.

Erik ten Hag's men also had a score to settle after a humiliating 4-0 defeat when the sides last met in August.

The Dutch coach was stinging in his criticism of his players' attitude after losing 2-0 to Newcastle on Sunday and got the response he was looking for.

United started brightly and could have been in front before Rashford's strike as Anthony and Scott McTominay fired just off target.

Rashford started through the middle as Ten Hag's patience with Wout Weghorst ran out and that decision bore fruit when the England international was perfectly placed to side-foot home Marcel Sabitzer's knockdown for his 28th goal of the season.

“We are in that period of the season where every game is important and every game counts," Rashford said. “So we are pleased to win and hopefully we can get back to where we were a few weeks ago.”

Player ratings from Old Trafford can be seen in the gallery above. To view the next picture, just swipe or click on the arrows.