Ralf Rangnick hails 'exemplary' and 'contagious' Scott McTominay after his dominant display in Manchester United's win at Brentford and admits he was 'a leader' in midfield READ: Manchester United bounced back from poor form to beat Brentford 3-1 Scott McTominay was United's unsung hero with an excellent midfield display His boss Ralf Rangnick waxed lyrical about him, calling him 'contagious' By Oli Gamp For Mailonline Published: 09:15 GMT, 20 January 2022 | Updated: 09:15 GMT, 20 January 2022 Viewcomments Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay was hailed as 'exemplary' and 'contagious' by interim boss Ralf Rangnick after his stellar performance in their 3-1 win at Brenford. United bounced back from a torrid run of form to snatch a much-needed away win at the newly-promoted side, with Anthony Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford among the goals before Ivan Toney's consolation. But while United's attacking players stole the headlines - it was the hard working performance of McTominay in the middle of the park that helped the team tick, with the Scot putting in a dogged display to win the ball back and drive United forwards again - and his manager was left raving about him. Scott McTominay was hailed as 'contagious' during Manchester United's 3-1 win at Brentford His manager Ralf Rangnick raved about his performance and called him 'a leader' in midfield 'Scott McTominay was exemplary, a real leader and it was positively contagious to the other players,' he said after the game. 'Then we could get some counter-attacking situations, the second and third goals were really good with assists from Bruno Fernandes.' The German was far from pleased with how United performed in the first half - going in at the break 0-0 after a lack of energy and fight, but heaped praise on his side for rallying after the interval and 'showing a different face'. He said the Scot had a big influence on his team-mates to inspire a much-needed victory 'The first half we were second best in almost all aspects of the game, sloppy passing, missing 50-50 situations and hardly won any second balls. 'We were nervous on the counter-attack and were lucky at half-time to have a draw. A few great saves again from David De Gea and we showed a different face in the second half. 'We spoke about what we needed to do, raise our demands and standards with regards to our physicality but our wingers would have stayed wider to pin back their wing-backs.' Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility