Keith Andrews was left to rue Brentford's glut of missed opportunities as their European bid took a hit during their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Monday.

Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko gave United a two-goal cushion at the break, though Brentford had more than enough chances to at least get themselves on the scoresheet. 

Top scorer Igor Thiago squandered three huge chances during the first 45 minutes, the most glaring of which saw him fail to turn in Keane Lewis-Potter's inviting delivery. 

The Bees did get the goal their performance merited when Mathias Jensen's 87th-minute strike found the bottom-left corner, but it proved to be too little, too late for the visitors. 

Brentford's quality of opportunities was backed up by the match metrics as they edged the expected goals (xG) battle with a total of 1.43 from their 12 shots to United's 1.27 from one fewer attempt at Caoimhin Kelleher's net. 

Dango Ouattara also hit the post in the second half in a frustrating outing all round for Brentford, though Andrews could not fault the effort from his players. 

"Pleased with the performance. They started better than we did, and we were on the back foot. But after that a top reaction," Andrews told Sky Sports.

"I thought we were outstanding for large parts of the game, but we couldn't take our opportunities. I enjoyed watching us play in every aspect after the first 10 minutes.

"The bravery and courage we showed, to come somewhere like this and play in that manner shows a good step in the right direction. The next step is being clinical and ruthless.

"Anyone that watches us will see we are a team with a lot of spirit. We have a nice click around the group.

"We fight hard, but you have to earn results in this division. We have been on a really good journey this year that allows us to come to a ground like this and play in that way."

Brentford have now failed to win any of their last six Premier League games (D5 L1), their longest winless run since going nine without a victory between February and April 2024.

And their latest defeat could prove costly in their quest to secure European football for the first time in the club's history, with the Bees two points adrift of sixth-placed Brighton. 

The Opta supercomputer has assigned Andrews' men a 10.1% chance of finishing sixth, though Brighton (46.5%), Bournemouth (14.2%) and Chelsea (13.4%) are all better fancied in its season simulations with four games remaining. 

Brentford face West Ham, Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Liverpool in their last four league matches, and Andrews remained optimistic of achieving the unthinkable. 

"I saw a lot of confidence tonight. I saw personality, a team that is doing everything it can to get results," a defiant Andrews added. 

"There is absolute belief in everything we do. We are not playing safe, I don't want us to be that team.

"We set up in a brave fashion against a top team tonight and unfortunately we couldn't quite get there'"