Manchester United recorded their 300th away victory in the Premier League, the first team to reach that milestone in the competition with a 1-3 victory over Brentford on Wednesday night in a rescheduled fixture.

Anthony Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford had put the visitors in the driving seat before Ivan Toney got a consolation goal for the hosts in the dying stages.

Ralf Ragnick welcomed back Cristiano Ronaldo to the starting lineup with the Portuguese having missed their last two league games due to injury as he replaced Edison Cavani, who deputised for him and was also unavailable due to injury.

Thomas Frank had to make changes to his team as well to cope with congested fixtures. Jonas Lossl came in goal for Alvaro Fernandez and Sergio Canos also returned to the lineup to take the place of Rico Henry at wing back.

The hosts started the game on the front foot and recorded a better portion of possession, but failed to have anything to show for it. Christian Norsgaard came closest to scoring in the 15th minute when he received a cutback from Mathias Jensen, but he could only guide his left-footed effort over the bar.

Brentford should have made better of their chances as they broke again on the counter with Vitaly Janet releasing Ivan Toney, who took a couple of good first touches before finding Jensen, whose tame shot was saved by De Gea and Raphael Varane was able to defend the follow up.

Ragnick's men came out sharper in the second half and came very close to opening proceedings when Cristiano Ronaldo leapt highest to meet a cross from Fred, which he sent over Lossl, but couldn't beat the crossbar.

Seconds after Brentford missed another goalscoring opportunity when Jensen combined well with Bryan Mbeumo and fired his shot straight at De Gea, United took the lead through Anthony Elanga, who headed home from a Fred assist to score his first Premier League goal of the campaign.

The home side were not deprived of opportunities, however, they kept firing straight at De Gea. Another swift move ended with Janelt, having seen a cutback from Mads Rasmussen diverted towards him by Varane, firing a scuffed effort at the United goalkeeper.

And in what looked like another punishment for another missed opportunity, the lead was doubled for United as they broke on a counter. Ronaldo beautifully chested the ball from the back to release Bruno Fernandes on the right, who raced into the Brentford box and sent a the ball across the face of goal for Mason Greenwood tap into an empty net.

Replacing Greenwood with Rashford proved fruitful for United as the substitute made it three for the visitors. It was another assist for Fernandes, who released the England international on the right. He took a first time shot that nested in the back of the net.

Consolation would come for the hosts in the closing stages when Bech Sorensen's throw in was not well dealt with. The ball pinned about before being deflected toward Ivan Toney by Norsgaard, and the forward clinically turned in his effort.

Concluding Thoughts

A huge sigh of relief for Ralf Ragnick who has come under an amount of pressure following unimpressive displays by his side in recent outings.

It was a much needed win for the Reds after they failed to win in their last two games, losing at home to Wolves and drawing at Aston Villa, despite having a two-goal lead in the latter.

Their return to form coincides with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to the lineup despite several critics of how he has been a problem to the team, forgetting that he's their highest goalscorer in all competitions this season. Although he didn't score on the night, he played a crucial part in the build up to the second goal.

Frank Thomas must have been having sleepless nights in the past few months as his team continues to struggle for their fate in the league. While it may not be doom yet, the writing on the wall isn't friendly.

They have conceded 10 goals in their last three league games, not to say they have managed just one win in their last six league games, losing the other five.

Big cause for worry at the Community stadium. Only if teams below them who have matches on hand fail to gather points can they feel safe.