Match Review - Burnley (H)
Sweet relief
Manchester United 3 2 Burnley
27’ Josh Cullen (OG) 55’ Lyle Foster
57’ Bryan Mbeumo 66’ Jaidon Anthony
90+7’ Bruno Fernandes (P)
Starting Lineup (3-4-3):
Bayindir
Yoro (Mazraoui 85’)
De Ligt
Shaw
Amad
Bruno
Casemiro (Sesko 72’)
Dalot
Mbeumo
Cunha (Zirkzee 31’)
Mount (Mainoo 46’)
All the talk in the buildup to this game was: “Just win”, and even though the job was done, in true Manchester United style, they certainly made us sweat.
Bruno Fernandes’ 97th minute penalty was enough for the three points, but it could have been wrapped up so much earlier… but it somehow could have been lost as well.
Team selection didn’t seem to go down particularly well with fans, but it wasn’t much of a surprise logically – Sesko played his first 90 minutes in about four months in mid-week and had cramps, so was left on the bench, while Kobbie Mainoo did the same and Casemiro didn’t see the field at Grimsby, so it was a sensible change.
The only real surprise was Dalot starting over Dorgu at left wing back, but as these positions carry a heavy workload in Amorim’s system, players are likely to be rotated often.
It’s surprising to me (not) that the first half performance being perhaps some of the most fluent and fast football we’ve seen a Manchester United side play for some time, has gone relatively unreported.
United were almost totally dominant in terms of possession and chances, restricting Burnley to very little (2 shots and a 0.2 XG) in the first 45 minutes.
Cunha, playing in the #9 spot, started well, combining with the (again) impressive Mount and Mbeumo early on, taking just five minutes to test ex-red Dubravka in the Burnley goal. Mbeumo then took his turn to do the same, twice finding himself with opportunities after good work from Bruno Fernandes and Mount. These four haven’t taken long to get on the same page.
Mount looked very sharp and on 16 minutes, he nicked the ball from Kyle Walker and drove towards the left edge of the box. Walker had to grab and pull at Mount to stop him getting a clean sight of goal and seemingly brought him down as he entered the penalty area – referee Sam Barrott said penalty. Or was it?
The decision went to VAR and it looked as if the foul occurred outside the box, but, rather inexplicably, Barrott announced that he saw ‘no offense’ and awarded a drop ball to Burnley. Once again, a rather baffling decision to go against United at OT.
United were not discouraged, however. Leny Yoro headed narrowly over the bar before Dalot won a free kick wide on the left-hand side in a good position.
Bruno’s delivery was excellent, finding the head of Casemiro in space, who nodded the ball onto the crossbar. United’s top goalscorer this season, that well known ‘OG’, then stepped in, the ball bouncing back off the head of the unfortunate Josh Cullen and over the line before Dubravka could shovel it out.
A great start
United the first ever team in the PL to have ‘OG’ scoring its first two goals of the season - forever setting records, eh.
A stroke of luck, but one that certainly couldn’t be described as undeserved. 27 minutes gone, 1-0 United.
Casemiro’s prowess at set pieces once again came to the fore and must be a huge reason why Amorim continues to have patience with a player who, in pace and stamina terms, clearly struggles at this level now despite possessing the in-game brain to survive.
But just as the pendulum looked like it was beginning to swing in United’s favour, back it swung again – Cunha pulling up injured less than five minutes later. A presumed hamstring injury, but we’ll wait and see how bad it is – less than ideal either way for a player who started life at OT in a highly promising fashion.
Zirkzee was the chosen replacement – it was a surprise that Sesko was not the man off the bench, but it was probably for the same reason he didn’t start.
United lost a bit of control after the change, but not for long, quickly pressing Burnley back into their own half, winning free kicks in dangerous positions and earning corners with some regularity. One such corner was flicked up and on to the top of the bar by Mount from an Mbeumo delivery to the front post - the reds weren’t letting up.
An Amad effort was saved and a De Ligt header blocked before Zirkzee and Bruno couldn’t find their way past some dogged Burnley defending.
But then, two big chances as the first half drew to a close – some brilliant football between Amad, Zirkzee and Mbeumo set the Cameroonian loose down the right. Mbeumo squared the ball back to the unmarked, onrushing Amad, who skied his left-footed effort over the bar and into the Stretford End.
The pass came to Amad on the bounce, so it wasn’t as easy as it may have looked initially, but he should have at least hit the half-empty target regardless. A big miss.
Just a minute later, the ball fell to Zirkzee after a scramble inside the box, but the big Dutchman couldn’t prod his effort past Dubravka under pressure. Another good chance gone just before the half-time whistle.
It should have been at least three, but the performance was genuinely good and United were winning at home at half time, so we all know what that means – no problem…
The second half began with the removal of Mount – precautionary we’re told – but a disappointing change given how good he’s been in recent games and in that first half in particular. His knack for dropping into space, making intelligent decisions and releasing others is so valuable in this system and will cause Amorim headaches (good ones) when picking his team.
It did, though, mean we saw Kobbie Mainoo enter the field, so every cloud…
Speaking of clouds, it took just 10 minutes for some to gather over Old Trafford as a cross from the right hand side (Dalot nowhere to be seen in terms of blocking it or tracking his man) found the completely unmarked Lyle Foster six yards out (De Ligt over in the left channel for some reason), and the Burnley forward duly accepted the gift, Bayindir left with little chance.
It was such a predictable piece of deja-vu, a goal conceded after dominating a game and missing chances, you worried that we’d see the same mental frailties, the same collapse we have been used to.
But in a lovely change from tradition, United instantly rallied – a long ball from Bayindir was neatly flicked on to Dalot from Zirkzee in the left channel, the Portugese bundled his way to the byline where he cut the ball back for Mbeumo to slot home from the edge of the six-yard box and register his first strike for United at Old Trafford.
The first of many we hope
It was a decent goal and one that was richly deserved for the excellent Mbeumo, but perhaps more importantly, it was a quick, aggressive response to a setback – something we don’t see often enough.
2-1 United, back in control. Or not…
Just ten minutes later, the Manchester United goalkeeping error horn was sounded again – a long throw was flicked on at the front post and not dealt with by the United defenders, who let it drop inside their own box.
A relatively weak shot from Burnley substitute, Tchaouna, which was straight at Bayindir and probably could have been caught, was palmed directly in front of the United keeper and into the middle of the six-yard box – another gift that Jaidon Anthony gratefully received.
2-2 and Burnley had scored with both of their attempts on target… sigh, not again.
United once again felt the game slipping away after going in front twice and Ruben Amorim could be forgiven for thinking there was someone looking over him, not in a good way. The mistake was another nail in the Manchester United goalkeeping room’s coffin, and it would be a genuine shock if the club didn’t invest in a new goalkeeper before the transfer window closes.
The game lacked structure in the final 20 minutes, with both teams breaking and looking threatening on the counter, control was hard to come by. But the later it went, the more Burnley retreated into their own territory, encouraging the reds forward.
Sesko was on for Casemiro and he showcased his prodigious jumping ability, twice reaching crosses and perhaps not quite doing as well with them as he could, both efforts missing the target. He certainly offers something different and while he’s clearly being eased into things and protected by Amorim, I’m looking forward to seeing a match fit version of Sesko spearheading the attack.
Pressure was building though, and in the 91st minute, Burnley finally made a mistake – Amad tried to run on to a Bruno through-ball on the right corner of the penalty area, but was naively yanked back by Jaidon Anthony as he entered the box – a clear shirt pull.
Not clear enough for referee Barrott, who didn’t give the penalty in real time, but after a (stupidly) long VAR check recommended in his ear, Barrott handed Bruno the chance to secure the three points.
It had been six minutes since the offense, a long time for a man who missed his last penalty in the previous game at Fulham, but United’s skipper kept his nerve and slotted the penalty low to Dubravka’s right.
Cue an expression of much relief – Amorim’s feet-up posture in the dugout surely didn’t reflect his thoughts at the moment and while he didn’t watch the penalty, he was quickly to his feet and on to the touchline once it hit the back of the net.
The Captain steps up and does the business
United saw out the last couple of minutes without much alarm and deservedly secured the all-important three points. But it could have been oh-so-much more comfortable.
A pretty good performance was marred, once again, by poor goalkeeping and a lack of concentration in defence – too often are runners free in the box and too often are goals gifted to opposition who previously hadn’t had a sniff.
These issues will continue to haunt United unless a new goalkeeper is brought in and the midfield can learn a more responsible mindset defensively. It looks as if the midfield will remain unaddressed in this transfer window and it’s a huge concern going forward that could limit the club’s ceiling this season.
Potential injuries to Mount and Cunha also take the gloss off the win, but still, there were a lot of positives to take from this performance.
A final XG of 3.54 from 26 shots shows both how much United created and how finishing needs to improve, but it also is a huge indicator of progress for a team that struggled mightily to create enough of note to win games last season.
Mbeumo’s performance, alongside Mount’s, shone through – their quality on the ball, work-rate and intelligence really does stand out in this team and it’ll be fascinating to see how Amorim fits them in going forward.
As a side note, it was also good to see Mazraoui back on the field after his injury – he’s a quality, consistent player and one that the squad desperately needs to continue to improve.
