Strange Keith Andrews Move Angered United Fans In Brentford Win

Keith Andrews got the best result of his tenure at Brentford thus far with a 3-1 win over Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.

The Irishman's side claimed their second victory of the Premier League season thanks to a brace from Igor Thiago and an injury-time strike from Mathias Jensen.

With Brentford 2-0 up thanks to Thiago's double, United pegged things back through Benjamin Sesko and pushed hard for an equaliser in the second half.

They were awarded a penalty with just under 20 minutes to go, but captain Bruno Fernandes saw his effort saved by Irishman Caoimhín Kelleher after a significant delay.

Part of that delay was down to a lengthy VAR review - first of the incident that caused the penalty, and secondly, whether the foul was severe enough for Nathan Collins to be red carded.

The Ireland captain could certainly count himself lucky to stay on the pitch, something which greatly frustrated Manchester United fans on social media. However, another aspect of the delay riled up the same fanbase.

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Keith Andrews call in Brentford win baffled United fans

By the time Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take Manchester United's second-half penalty against Brentford, it was well over four minutes after the foul by Nathan Collins on Bryan Mbeumo that saw the spot kick awarded.

Two VAR reviews contributed to that delay, but two substitutions from Brentford rankled some viewers.

Brentford boss Keith Andrews chose to replace Aaron Hickey and Dango Ouattara with Keane Lewis-Potter and Rico Henry in the time between Manchester United being awarded their penalty and Bruno Fernandes stepping up.

The two substitutions added to an already lengthy delay, something that appeared to get under the skin of the United captain before his crucial miss.

Journalists and fans alike questioned the unusual decision to allow Brentford to make two subs in that period.

It is certainly an unusual situation but there is precedent. We have seen teams sub on players specifically to take penalties in previous years, with a notable example seeing Mark Noble miss an injury-time penalty against Manchester United in September 2021.

However, for the defending team to be allowed to make changes is something that has not been seen too often.

United fans voiced their displeasure on social media, while football writers and journalists also expressed confusion.

Whether it was his intention or not, it ended up being a shrewd move from Keith Andrews that may have somewhat rattled the opposition at a pivotal point.

The delay was also a nervy one for Brentford, with their captain veering close to a red card.

"I think that's football, isn't it? You need to try and remain calm," Keith Andrews told TNT Sports post-match of how he had handled the nervous wait.

All I was thinking during that scenario was, 'You can't do anything about the incident.' I have plan A and plan B up my sleeve - if he potentially got sent off, what that looks like, what that substitution looks like, what we would go to.

Thankfully, he didn't. Caoimhín produced an amazing save which I know he's well capable of. From that, I think we just settled down, made a couple more subs...little bit more energy in the game.

What you saw today was football - it swings in so many different ways during games.

It was a day when Brentford rode their luck, but Keith Andrews will be delighted his team managed to get over the line and claim a pivotal win.

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