Erik ten Hag criticises 'passion and desire' of Man United after draw at Brentford

Erik ten Hag criticised the “passion, desire and determination” of his Manchester United team after a disappointing 1-1 draw at struggling Brentford.

It looked as though United were going to secure an undeserved three points when £55 million summer signing Mason Mount came off the bench to score his first goal for the club deep into added time.

But then Ivan Toney – who scored his first international goal in England's draw with Belgium on Tuesday – pulled the ball back for Kristoffer Ajer to level in the ninth minute of injury time.

With Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur – who sit fourth and fifth in the table, respectively – both winning on Saturday, United's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season are hanging by a thread.

They remain in sixth place, eight points behind Spurs and 11 shy of Villa, although they do have a game in hand on Unai Emery's men.

It was a deflating performance from United, especially considering they went into the recent international break on a high after a last-gasp 4-3 extra-time win against Liverpool at Old Trafford to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, where they will take on Coventry City at Wembley Stadium.

“We were winning in the end, maybe it wasn't deserved but then you have to take the three points so the it is very disappointing to draw the game,” admitted Ten Hag at the Gtech Community Stadium.

“Brentford were better than us today. They showed more passion, desire and determination as we did. The quality of this team is they fight for it, but we have to show more. We scored the goal but then threw it off the line.”

When asked if it was acceptable for other teams to show more passion and desire, the Dutchman replied: “No never. We showed it against Liverpool and in many