TOM SOMEHOW KEEPS UNITED AT BAY AS MOURINHO LOSES RAG
ALEKSANDAR KOLAROV hopes contract at to secure a new in the Manchester City defender, summer. The Serbian left to run on 30, has 20 months City boss his current deal. expected to Pep Guardiola is Kolarov a be keen to offer used new contract, having him at both left-back so and centre-back far this season.
And if the Corrie scriptwriters came up with some of the lines you get at Old Trafford they would be dismissed as too far-fetched to be true.
Yesterday we had manager Jose Mourinho (left, with fourth official Kevin Friend) sent to the stands by Mark Clattenburg for a half-time rant.
Then there was United midfielder Ander Herrera being sent off for two bookable offences, leaving his side a man short in the 68th minute.
And Burnley managed their first away point of the season as they frustrated Mourinho’s United, with a goalkeeper released at Old Trafford – Tom Heaton – their hero.
The draw means the Reds have now gone four league matches without a win and failed to score in the last three.
And this was a game United went into with boss Mourinho admitting it was “must-win”.
He said: “While it is good to be in the last eight of the League Cup and on course in the Europa League, it is the Premier League where we most need to win matches. “That has to start today against Burnley.” United actually responded to the rallying call with a positive, upbeat start but failed to deliver the win they needed.
They pinned back their visitors and should really have taken the lead in the 17th minute. Juan Mata’s inch-perfect pass set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic but Burnley keeper Heaton left his line at speed to make a fine block. The same United players then combined again, with the shot this time coming from Mata but once more Heaton saved well, turning the ball for a corner.
Burnley had a great chance to stun United before half-time but Johann Berg Gudmundsson shot straight at David De Gea.
But as United’s pressure grew, Ben Mee headed a goal-bound Ibrahimovic effort to safety, then Heaton magnificently turned a Jesse Lingard header from Herrera’s cross over the bar.
Heaton’s catalogue of stops grew as Paul Pogba was frustrated to see an effort tipped over and Mourinho was furious when United were denied a penalty after Matteo Darmian went down after a challenge by substitute Jon Flanagan.
The home side, with £26million midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan still sitting in the stands and not deemed to be match fit, battered Burnley in the second half.
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