Rasmus Højlund’s winner was a strike of demonstrable skill and will put Erik ten Hag and his struggling Manchester United in a calmer mood after they picked up three points for the first time since the defeat to Southampton in mid-September.

In the 62nd minute Brentford were forced back from the right corner flag. The ball was won, Christian Eriksen slid a pass to Bruno Fernandes and his unnoticed pass to Højlund was as sweet as the striker’s deft flick over Mark Flekken as Brentford’s visiting goalkeeper went down.

This was followed by an Alejandro Garnacho volley within two minutes of the second half, a fitting response to the debacle overseen by Ten Hag and his medical staff just before half-time that heralded Brenford’s opener.

When this was announced, it seemed emblematic of United’s ills. While the visitors were preparing for a corner from the left, Matthijs de Ligt was ordered to the sidelines by referee Sam Barrott for a head injury he sustained at the start of the period and was treated for the third time. When this happened, Mikkel Damsgaard had a set piece and – what a surprise – Ethan Pinnock rose up exactly where the Dutchman should have been – right in the middle of André Onana’s goal – and was able to head in unmolested.

Cue De Ligt charging at the fourth official, Gavin Ward, a seething Ruud van Nistelrooy following suit, and the latter and Ten Hag were booked for their anger. Apart from the fact that two previous attempts had been made to stop De Ligt’s bleeding, United’s medics shared some of the blame, while Ten Hag, as United’s manager, was ultimately responsible for the defender not being substituted previously.

De Ligt came on in the second half without an association and within two minutes United managed the perfect counterattack: a curved cross from Marcus Rashford to the far post was fired in by Garnacho to equalize. The Argentine scored his first league goal since the 3-0 win at Saints and increased United’s Premier League goalscoring rate by 20% – to six.

This led to Messrs Ten Hag and Van Nistelrooy hugging and tempers at United soaring, something they certainly wouldn’t be taking part in this competition. “Fairy Tales and Lies” Ten Hag had claimed in some reports before the game that his job was at stake before the international break. The coach – mysteriously – did not mention that United, in 14th place, with eight points from seven games and a goal difference of -3, might have turned up the pressure. Also taking into account that Sir Alex Ferguson’s £2.6m salary as United’s ‘global ambassador’ was axed, these were the strands of the recent intrigue surrounding United.

Nevertheless, they ended up here as winners and deserved the victory. De Ligt’s cut came when he headed Kevin Schade’s knee rather than the ball: the centre-back was equally lucky to continue as United were determined not to be bowed by the farrago in which he was the main actor. Next up for United is Fenerbahce in the Europa League, then they travel to West Ham.

Can they finally find continuity? Their lack of it is as obvious as the lack of a game model: the two are of course connected.