ENJOY GA THIS WHILE
Good old-fashioned English football match… which will be a thing of the past if United get their way
MAKE the most of it while you can and enjoy games like this. The local rivalry. The history. Because if Manchester United and their friends from the proposed new European Super League don’t back down, these matches could soon be a thing of the past. Burnley, lest we forget, were one of the 12 founder members of the original Football League in 1888. Four years later they played Newton Heath in September 1892, the first of 132 meetings between these two clubs.
United’s victory here means they have won 64 times to Burnley’s 45 with 23 draws, hardly a landslide.
Indeed, had it not been for two late United goals yesterday, Burnley would have become only the second club to avoid defeat in five successive Premier League games at Old Trafford, after Chelsea in 1998.
Yet United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and their European cohorts have their sights on what they believe are bigger and better things; a new competition that could see the end of fixtures between United and Burnley as early as next year if everyone sticks to their guns and English football’s ‘Big Six’ are forced to break away.
The last time Sean Dyche’s side left Old Trafford after a 2-0 win here last season, there was mutiny in the air and fury from supporters towards United’s American owners and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
Some will be equally angry this morning at the greed of the Glazer family. Others may be more philosophical. The notion of a breakaway league has always had the capacity to split opinion in football. It differentiates between the haves and the have-nots, the elite and the rest. Many would argue that the clash of different styles and resources is what makes the current format so interesting.
This was certainly a good, oldfashioned game of English football. Burnley enjoyed knocking United off their stride with direct football that was nonetheless well executed.
United once again laboured through a first half before raising their game and scored three goals after the interval for the second time in a week. Mason Greenwood got two of them and now has five in his last six appearances.
Victory enabled United to close the gap on City to eight points with six games remaining — exactly the same scenario as when their neighbours pipped them to the title with Sergio Aguero’s deciding goal in 2012.
City had the advantage of having to play United in a six-pointer then, however, and Solskjaer is right when he maintains that it is unrealistic to expect his team to do the same. For a start, they are still capable of shooting themselves in the foot. This game was barely 10 seconds old when Dean Henderson dashed out of his goal to try to claim a long ball from Matt Lowton and was relieved to discover that Chris Wood was marginally offside when he headed into an empty net.
Henderson did not inspire a great deal of confidence, it has to be said. Early in the second half, shortly after he had conceded an equaliser to James Tarkowski and now wearing a distinctive red cap to block out the sun, he came out to claim another Lowton punt upfield and this time got nowhere near it, instead clattering into teammate Victor Lindelof.
Wood was a real thorn in United’s side, going close from another Lowton cross and twice when Tarkowski headed on from free-kicks in the first half.
Rashford was equally problematic for Burnley before limping off in the 84th minute when his troublesome ankle injury made it too painful to continue. It was no surprise that he set up the opening goal for Greenwood three minutes into the second half after nutmegging Lowton on his way into the box.
Bruno Fernandes cleverly allowed Rashford’s square pass to go through his legs and Greenwood never looked likely to miss with a sidefooted finish.
United’s lead lasted just 114 seconds, however, as Burnley equalised from Ashley Westwood’s corner. Tarkowski brushed off a feeble challenge from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and was too strong for Harry Maguire as he rose to power home a header from close range.
It was the 1,000th goal United have conceded in the Premier League and one that looked as though it would give Burnley a valuable point in their efforts to keep away from the relegation zone. But United regained the
lead six minutes from the end of normal time with a little slice of luck. Pogba sprayed a pass out to Greenwood who cut inside Charlie Taylor and let fly, the ball taking a deflection off the unfortunate Jack Cork as it beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell at his near post. As Burnley pushed for another equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time they fell victim to a United
counter-attack. It was a well-worked move that involved Fernandes, Edinson Cavani and Greenwood before substitute Donny van de Beek squared the ball for Cavani to score.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): Henderson 5; Wan-Bissaka 5.5, Lindelof 7, Maguire 6, Shaw 7; McTominay 6.5, Fred 5.5 (Cavani 46min, 6.5); GREENWOOD 8, Fernandes 7, Pogba 6.5; Rashford 7.5 (Van de Beek 84). Subs not used: De Gea, Mata, James, Telles, Matic, Williams, Tuanzebe. Scorers: Greenwood 48, 84, Cavani 90+3. Booked: Wan-Bissaka.
Manager: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 7. BURNLEY (4-4-1-1): Peacock-Farrell 6; Lowton 7, Tarkowski 7, Mee 6.5, Taylor 5; Gudmundsson 6 (Rodriguez 88), Cork 6, Westwood 6, McNeil 5.5; Brownhill 6 (Vydra 88); Wood 7.5. Subs not used: Norris, Stephens, Pieters, Bardsley, Nartey, Dunne, Richardson. Scorer: Tarkowski 50. Booked: Tarkowski, Cork. Manager: Sean Dyche 6. Referee: Jon Moss 6.5.