Watching Manchester United has become a chore of late for their matchgoers but they were finally rewarded. The infectious enthusiasm of Anthony Elanga's celebration was worth the admission price and overnight stay in London at a couple of weeks' notice.
Elanga, still 19, is destined to become this season's academy breakout at United and it is not a coincidence he has had greater exposure in the near-immediate aftermath of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's dismissal. Every United manager has an academy legacy; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had Mason Greenwood, Louis van Gaal Marcus Rashford and Rangnick's is Elanga. All three scored.
The 19-year-old manipulated Fred's lofted pass masterly, gathering it on the bounce and leaping to nod it past Jonas Lossl. It was the United fans' good fortune the ball lofted into the net adjacent to their corner. Elanga demanded more noise from those in paroxysms of jubilation and was soon smothered by them.
One cannot underestimate the significance of Elanga's nimble footwork in the 55th minute. This was in danger of descending into another inquest until the Swede, effectively an adopted Mancunian, drained Brentford of belief.
This is what away days used to feel like for those United loyalists. They were brilliantly backed again by their travelling supporters yet served up a familiarly supine away-day performance in the first-half.
In almost every domestic away fixture this season, United have been unsettled by the presence of home supporters and many players have been rumbled. The unbeaten away streak last season was as false as United's second-place finish.
Remarkably, a tight contest ended as a procession. Brentford were profligate during their dominant period and United were potent during theirs. Their 4-3-3 formation belatedly impacted a fixture that many in the away end were resigned to seeing more points dropped in.
Even in victory, a crisis was brewing. "Why did you take me off," Cristiano Ronaldo could be seen asking Darren Fletcher. His hands clamped his hips like a vice upon hearing his name. Rangnick kept his distance until Ronaldo's replacement, Marcus Rashford, side-footed in the clincher six minutes later. Decision vindicated. Ronaldo appeased. Tactical and personnel changes and man-manegement; Rangnick excelled at all three.
The United supporters were especially thrilled for Rashford, whose measured finish suggested he has taken heed of criticism of his technique. Greenwood, the scorer of the contest-killing second, also hared towards the couple of thousand Reds.
This was the first time Rangnick's tactical clout was apparent since his first match against Crystal Palace over a month ago. United changed formation again midway through the second-half to a back three - a dubious call when they were on the front foot - yet Rangnick regretted staying dormant at 2-0 at Villa Park and not tweaking the shape. This time, there was no comeback.
Ronaldo stalked referee Andre Marriner at the end of the first-half, complaining about unpunished physical challenges. That ought to have emboldened Brentford yet had the opposite effect. United restarted re-energised and their first five minutes of the second-half trumped their first fractured 45 minutes.
That was a chore. Speaking to some matchgoers beforehand, they half-joked their pre-match meal would be the highlight. Their first visit to the atmospheric and compact Community Stadium ended with them heckling Bruno Fernandes with 'what the f-----g hell was that?' It had gone that well.
Scott McTominay returned to keep vigil at the base of a three-man midfield and the most settled he looked prior to the interval was at kick-off. Once he had adjusted, he covered the ground and his sparked the breakaway for Greenwood's goal. United supporters serenaded him at full-time.
Brentford, their squad assembled via a sophisticated and analytical scouting strategy, relied on the hallmarks previous promoted sides have favoured: physicality. They softened United up from open play and set-pieces yet somehow David de Gea's net did not ripple.
Eric Ramsay, the set-piece coach, studied United's in-game set-up on a monitor, scrolling back and forth to diagnose any issues. He sheepishly waved in a vain effort to attract the attention of someone, anyone, from Brentford's first set-piece and puffed his cheeks amid the aerial bombardment. There was a distinct lack of courage from a panoply of corners with McTominay ducking one ball and Fred botching an unchallenged clearance.
Rangnick was in constant conversation with his Red Bull alumni, Chris Armas. Hartis and Ramsay - Solskjaer appointments - held their own inquisition during a stoppage. Rangnick could only shake his head after De Gea pulled down the shutters for a second time against Mathias Jensen. De Gea was furious at the manner of Ivan Toney's scrappy late consolation from, of course, a throw-in.
Mike Phelan, still lingering in the dugout, switched seats with the goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis so was nearer Rangnick yet the lack of a rapport between interim and assistant managers is so distant they may as well be in different time zones. Ewan Sharp, the video analyst, approached the tunnel long before half-time, laptop in hand for what should have been a coruscating critique.
Whatever was said, it worked.
