Daniel Harris 

Burnley v Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened

A professional performance from United puts them a point behind Manchester City, whom the meet on Thursday night, while Burnley, though nearly safe, are still not safe yet
  
  


So, bye - thanks all for your company and comments, sorry I couldn’t use them all.

You can now join Jacob Steinberg for what’s left of Arsenal-Manchester City:

And Tom Lutz for Liverpool-Palace:

All of this means that United stay fifth, but move three points behind Liverpool, who play Palace shortly, and one behind City, whom the meet on Thursday.

Burnley remain 15th, five points ahead of Swansea in 18th.

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Full-time: Burnley 0-2 Manchester United

Mourinhoesque from United, who were always in control of the game, organised at the back, sharp in midfield and dangerous in attack. Burnley, meanwhile, couldn’t quite find the necessary spark or intensity, nor the bounce of the ball on set-pieces. They remain probably safe, but not necessarily safe.

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90+3 min You’ve got to laugh: Eric Bailly goes down, and for a second looks injured. But he’s quickly up, and the game proceeds.

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90+2 min “Though we won’t know definitively until later in their careers at United (or elsewhere) whether Mourinho has man-managed some of his players in the best way,” emails Matt Loten, “ultimately, Martial has played very well today, and Shaw had an excellent game against Anderlecht on Thursday. This following criticism that many were quick to suggest was overboard. Wayne Rooney, as well, has been eased out with the minimum of fuss, Fellaini is no longer booed onto the pitch, and Juan Mata - who most thought would be the recipient of a one-way ticket out of Manchester upon Mourinho’s arrival - remains an important, and seemingly happy, member of the squad when fit. Throw in the fact that Mkhitaryan has improved as the season has progressed, and it seems to me that whilst you might question Mourinho’s selection policy at times, his handling of players has been pretty spot-on. Every player he has dropped or criticised has come back into the team and given him the performances for which he has asked.”

That’s one way of looking at things, I guess, and there’s certainly some truth in it. On the other hand, he ought to have got more from Mkhitaryan and Martial earlier in the season, and if he had, United would be happily ensconced in third or fourth.

90+1 min There shall be four added minutes.

90 min The ref books Hendrick for an earlier scythe on Fellaini, and Carrick replaces Pogba.

88 min Rooney seizes on a loose clearance to swing a low shot wide from just outside the box, then Pogba breaks from midfield and curls another low shot just wide of the near post. I was about to wonder why he’s still on - I guess because United haven’t scored a third - and he’s now down getting treatment.

87 min Gary Nev points out the job that Fellaini has done in protecting Blind from any physical contact which is fair in a way - Fellaini has played well, as he did off the bench on Thursday. But Blind can also take care of himself, most of the time.

85 min Eric Bailly loves a scrap, so gets involves in a tangle of legs with Agyei, kicking through his, wrapping them up, all that kind of thing, before eventually conniving a free-kick.

83 min Herrera, who’s “in a good moment”, slides a lovely pass down the line for Rashford, and with Heaton coming then backpeddling, he takes the shot early. But he goes for the near post when he should go across goal, allowing Heaton to shove behind fairly easily. Goalkick, apparently.

82 min Martial takes a blow after a very decent effort, replaced by Mkhitaryan.

81 min That’s six goals and six bookings for dissent, as per Opta @Fino76 on Twitter/

79 min And there it is! Wayne Rooney is booked for dissent after Pogba is penalised for a foul! Brady takes the free-kick, clipped flat towards the back post, where Keane is up first but can only head wide. “Made too good a contact,” reckons Gary Nev.

78 min Martial has made 77 sprints today, more than any other player. That’ll be what Mourinho is after from him, and it’s shown. Turns out the double European champion and multiple league winner knows something about the old association football, even more than folk on www.twitter.com and doers of the Guardian MBM.

77 min Nice from Agyei, a deft touch moving the ball away from Young, but then he leaves it behind and Bailly moves in to snaffle.

75 min Agyei replaces Barnes.

74 min Looking again, Ward probably managed him into touch with two hands to the shoulder. But it was on the ref’s blind side, so nothing to see really.

73 min Rashford puts himself in a race with Ward, putting the ball in behind and setting off. Ward does really well to “manage him into touch,” as Gary Neville puts it.

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71 min “There seems to be this prevailing idea that Martial’s best position is as a striker,” emails Rajiv. “While this could turn out to be true he has played the entirety of his Monaco, Man Utd and France career as a winger. All his best performances for Man Utd have come as a winger, and I’m not sure why there’s a huge need (baring injury) to keep trying him as a striker?”

I guess because a player of his quality is worth more in the middle of the pitch. But today, I imagine he was used there because Mourinho wanted pace in that position and also wanted to rest Rashford.

70 min It’s Lingard who departs - I’d wondered if it’s be Rooney as he’s come back from injury, but also to give what might be Thursday’s front three a run together. But Lingard, whose played a fair bit lately, is rested.

69 min And again - Ward raps in a low cross, turned away by Bailly. He’s had a very good ten minutes.

68 min Super cross from the right, swung over by Lowton, but Bailly is up again to head clear.

67 min Marcus Rashford will shortly be upon us - for Rooney, I imagine.

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65 min Lowton is late catches Rooney late on halfway, ploughing through the back of him, and is booked.

64 min Burnley seem to have run out of ideas, such that they ever had any, but then, finally, Gray manages to drag and isolate Blind out wide, skipping clear and skimming over a nasty low cross. Bailly, though, is on his mettle, and clears dextrously as Barnes threatens.

63 min Lingard stretches through the middle and finds Rooney to his left, who slips. As you’d expect, everyone laughs.

62 min Change for Burnley: Gudmundsson replaces Boyd.

60 min Jose Mourinho has an interesting decision to make on Thursday night when United visit the Etihad. Marcus Rashford will come back in, but at the same time, it makes little sense to wait all season for Anthony Martial to do the necessary and then drop him as soon as he does. Both could play, but Jesse Lingard has earnt a spot too and Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the kind of player able to compete with City’s close-passing midfield.

59 min Martial has played more as an inside-left than a centre-forward, but he takes possession in a more central position then suddenly steps on the gas, sliding a pass through the middle for Rooney. He can’t quite gather it, and is spluttering away when the ref gives a goalkick, not the corner he felt was his due after Keane came across to challenge.

57 min Corner to Brunley down the right, and again United cope well, Fellaini nutting clear.

55 min Martial is so hard to defend when he’s in this mood, quick and able to go off either foot. He isolates Keane, opts to diddle him on the outside, and shoves a square pass across the six-yard box that’s smuggled behind for a corner. It’s quickly cleared, but then Herrera slings over another very presentable ball that no one can quite reach.

54 min Pogba finds space outside the box, left of centre, and rattles a low heat-seeker towards the far post which Heaton pushes away.

53 min It’s worth noting that Daley Blind has been quietly impressive at centre-back so far, all the more so given how Mourinho disparaged him recently when bemoaning his ill-luck in having only Rojo and Bailly for that position. Blind has inalienable flaws, it’s true, but had many fine games last season.

51 min Already, Burnley are finding more time and space in midfield, United sitting deep and actually looking relatively organised. Ah, and there’s Mourinho on the touchline frantically gesturing at his players to get up, while the home crowd voices its frustration at the number of sideways passes attempted.

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49 min United have switched off in more than a handful of games this season; if they do so this afternoon, they might well get punished. Talking of which, is a handful more than five, or just more than any amount that reasonably fill one’s hand - tricky when the currency is football matches.

47 min Boyd finds space out on his left for the first time, but with men in the middle can only sling a floaty cross behind.

46 min Oh dear. Ben Mee has an ankle injury, so he’s been replaced by James Tarkowski.

46 min United set us off once more.

Half-time: Burnley 0-2 Manchester United

It’s taken a while, but United finally appear to be on a roll. They’ve not been dazzling, but they’ve defended well and attacked with enterprise and speed; Martial in particular has been very good, with Pogba, Lingard and Herrera also making crucial contributions. Burnley, meanwhile, need to try and gang up on Bailly and Blind a little more, because there are errors there; the problem is they’re finding it hard to get decent possession, though both Barton and Hendricks have delivered two or three clever moments each.

In short, it’s both easy and hard to see how Burnley get back into this.

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45+2 min The rest of the half disappears; Hendrick has one run at the heart of United’s defence, but Pogba pulls alongside and takes the ball away.

45 min There shall be two additional minutes.

43 min Couple of moments for Burnley: they win a second ball off another free-kick launched from halfway, and Gray does really well to turn free of Fellaini, lashing a shot goalwards that’s blocked by Bailly. Then, from the corner, Mee again handles Herrera, but Gray misses his kick, swivelling on the knockdown.

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42 min Gary Neville seems to have Mourinho on a no-loser, here: if Martial plays well, dragging him is great management; if Martial plays badly, the manager was right all along. Might it also be possible that he should’ve got this performance from him sooner?

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GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Manchester United (Rooney, 39)

As I was saying. Lingard’s pace and movement stretch Burnley before Pogba pounces on Brady’s poor header just outside the box, turning to simultaneously outskill and outmuscle both him and Barton. He then slides a straight pass into Martial’s stride, gathered nicely to lose Mee, and though Heaton is out sharply to block him off, the ball breaks for Rooney, who scuffs a sidefooter against Keane’s inside calf, through his legs, and just over the line.

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37 min If Rooney gets the caution for mouth that’s coming to him - he spent a fair while whinging about the penalty he didn’t get - that’ll be more cards for dissent than goals this season.

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35 min United give away another free-kick, about 40 yards away from goal, left of centre. Brady goes to whip it in, but is interrupted by the ref, drawn to some argé-barge between Pogba and Lowton. When, eventually, the the ball arrives, it’s hit flat towards the far post, where Blind does really well to get between Mee and it, diving in to shepherd behind for a goalkick.

33 min A lull.

30 min Rooney accepts possession on the edge of the box and Barton bumps him over from behind. This could easily be a penalty, but there’s a little room for doubt, so the ref says no, and just about legitimately.

29 min “Lloris?! I expect that you support Conte or Poch over Dyche as manager of the season,” retorts Astra Lee, “which Dyche deserves if Burnley stay up.”

Definitely not Pochettino, but it’s hard to look beyond Conte. Not because he looks likely to win the league, but because he took a team on its arse, taught them how to play a particular way, and put together a ridiculous run that burned off the other challengers even before spring. Rarely has a team been so obviously defined by managerial brilliance - Conte should be player of the year as well.

28 min Gary Neville can’t believe Barton didn’t foul Martial in the build-up to the goal, but here he is back in the game, a clever pass releasing Lowton down the right. His cross is low and hard, a pearler, but no one’s attacking the near post and De Gea claims easily enough.

26 min Heavy touch from Fellaini, so Barnes confiscates possession and Fellaini flicks out a boot at roughly knee-height. Ouch. Somehow, Fellaini escapes a card, and then Brady’s free-kick is too close to De Gea, who snatches well before Mee arrives.

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25 min So, what do Burnley have? They’ve not offered much in open play so far, and will be wary of committing men forward given what’s just happened to them. As for United, it’s a fair old while since they’ve scored a goal like that against a tea not chasing the game.

25 min Pace, movement and numbers up front make a difference. Who knew?

23 min It is probably fair to say that with Zlatan in the side, United don’t score that goal.

GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Manchester United (Martial 21)

Rooney scrambles the ball out to Martial who megs and eases free of Barton, who amazingly eschews the chance to stub a cigar out on his eye pull him down. Martial then goes right to Herrera, whose cross - it’s more of a pass, actually - is typically studied, slid into stride. Martial then takes a clever touch when he might have thrashed, before sliding home a brilliant goal.

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20 min Fellaini is late on Barnes for no reason, but the free-kick is wasted and eventually united break...

18 min United break, Lingard rinsing through the middle and snapping wide to Rooney once the Burnley defence narrows. Martial is in the middle and Rooney looks for him, so it’s not entirely surprising when he nearly scores with a cross that floats towards the far top corner.

17 min Again, within 12 mins, Tom Heaton’s two great saves showing why De Gea’s position in the PFA team of the year is utter nonsense,” vexes Astra Lee on Twitter, and I agree - at least in part. De Gea certainly has no business in that team, but I might have gone with Ser Lloris.

15 min Superb from Hendrick, taking Barton’s clever pass and bursting past Fellaini into the box, whereupon he nutmegs Herrera. Swivelling into a cross, Blind slides in ahead of Gray to concede the corner, hit to the back post, where Mee escapes the over-matched Herrera ... but can only head over the top.

13 min United have started to play a little, Pogba allowing a pass from Darmian across his body before floating forward. He tries a shot, but it’s blocked and then Brady unfurls a fantastic pass for Gray, whose shot is blocked by Fellaini.

11 min Darmian goes down the left and slaps a pass inside to no one, but United quickly recover possession and Herrera finds Young on the opposite flank then accepts a return and tosses in a brilliant cross. Lowton is forced to concede the corner, which Fellaini meets well, only to head close enough to Heaton such that he can smother.

9 min Great block Ben Mee! Martial finds himself in space on the left side of the box and drags the ball past Ward before clipping back for Herrera. He does really well to take a touch and move on one for Rooney who, from six yards out, looks set to score. But Mee goes down on both knees in front of him, smothering a tame shot which allows Heaton to catch easily enough. That was a chance.

8 min “For readers without Alessandro Del Piero images, please find attached pictures of Mr Dyche’s sideburns in both home and away kits,” emails William Hargreaves.

6 min Burnley win a free-kick on halfway, which, naturally, Heaton tosses into yon mixer. Fellaini doesn’t bother jumping, so Keane flicks-on, and from an acute angle, Brady lashes a left-footer over the top.

5 min Gray runs at Darmian, who does really well to intercede just as he looks certain to be done for pace. He’s actually played pretty well in recent weeks, though remains nowhere near the standard of the players who’ve preceded him.

3 min Heavy touch from Gray down the right, and he’s forced to turn and run towards his own goal. This allows Pogba to nick the ball of him, but before he’s even mid-lank, a tackle raps his ankle. Gray does well to avoid a card for that.

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2 min “There’s nothing worse than a Wayne Rooney who is eager to prove a point and make an impression,” emails David Flynn. “Today he’ll no doubt task himself with the role of out-and-out striker/deep-lying playmaker/end-to-end winger/in everybody’s way. The headless chicken role.”

Tangentially, has there ever been a player whose nightmares were as intense as Wayne Rooney? With a bigger gap between highest and lowest level?

1 min “A loose one from Joey Barton”. Ctrl C, Ctrl V.

1 min Burnley set us away!

Sky have Martial playing through the middle, with Rooney on the left.

Out come the players!

incongruous

ɪnˈkɒŋɡrʊəs

/adjective/

Can’t they just tell them?

Jamie Carragher thinks that Michael Keane should leave Burnley but not go back to United, on the basis that he’ll still be known as the kid who came through. He also mentions that Jones and Smalling will consider him thus, though I’m far from certain both will still be at Old Trafford next season. If a centre-back arrives, one will definitely have to go.

Anyway, what was Louis van Gaal thinking, selling Keane but keeping Paddy McNair? Dearie me.

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“The last time Manchester United beat Burnley at Turf Moor (19th April 1976), Apple Computers had just been founded, the Ramones had just released their first album and videogames were barely starting out,” emails Christopher Flaherty. “Don’t see us ending that run today to be honest.”

Looking at that United side, it’s hard to see who’ll take responsibility, if Pogba doesn’t. But, on the other hand, there are a fair few players who can make the difference in a single moment of quality.

Sean Dyche has diagonally-pointing sidies, just like Alessandro Del Piero in the late-90s. He is as cosmopolitan sartorially as he is tactically.

Of Burnley’s 36 points this season, 32 have come at Turf Moor. Sky are now showing us the game between the teams at the start of 2009-10, won by Robbie Blake’s brilliant goal. That night, Wayne Rooney allowed Michael Carrick to take - and miss - a penalty which, with United losing the league by a point, was a crucial oversight.

Also on Martial, Neville says he was pleased to hear Mourinho call him out for not working hard enough, as he thinks it too. That’s a shame, as he’s a brilliant talent, though you wonder if harder work ought to have been coaxed from him by now.

Gary Neville says he’s heard that Rooney won’t be playing up front today. If so, that’s a big chance for Anthony Martial, though I’m not convinced he has the instinct, or at least makes the runs of a centre-forward.

In that connection, Marcus Rashford is left out, and with good reason. He gave everything in midweek and last Sunday, and will be needed in more important games. You’d not trust his team-mates to get it done without him, mind.

Mourinho is sad for his players as individuals, not for his team - what compassion! Zlatan, he explains, is close to the end of his career, and Rojo was playing as well as he ever had, having finally won a spot at centre-back in the Argentina side. Geoff Shreeves decides to ask whether Zlatan will play again, and is given microscopic shrift.

The obligatory question about Rooney follows - “is he at the top of his game and raring to go?” That too is batted away, and what comes next is telling: Mourinho says that rather than the home game against Burnley, when United had 43,986 shots without scoring, today he’s expecting two shots and two goals.

Talking of Martial, it might just be that Zlatan’s injury saves his United career. He looked certain for the off this time last week, but he ought to now get games; if he can play as he did last season, he’ll be a hard man to shift.

So, about that team news, then. Burnley make one change, and it’s up front: Gray replaces the injured Vokes. As for United, out go Romero, Valencia, Rojo, Shaw, Carrick, Mkhitaryan, Rashford and Ibrahimovic; in come De Gea, Darmian, Blind, Young, Herrera, Fellaini, Rooney and Martial.

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Preamble

A team who’re safe against a team who make eight changes, and two of whom played 120 sapping minutes in midweek: yes, we’re in for a cracker this afternoon, alright.

I say Burnley are safe; I say Burnley are safe; and they are. But they’d not mind just a couple more points, and whatever happens, they’re not the sort to toss it off.

United, meanwhile, must win. There have been worse runs to a European trophy than Celta Vigo followed by Lyon or Ajax, but this United side are nowhere near good enough to assume, all the more so without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo. So, they need to keep at it in the league because the teams directly above them can’t be trusted to maintain, all the more so when the pressure’s on.

Right, I’ve talked myself into it. This is one not to miss.

Kick-off: 2.15pmBST

Team news

Burnley: Heaton, Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward, Boyd, Barton, Hendrick, Brady, Gray, Barnes. Subs: Flanagan, Defour, Westwood, Gudmundsson, Tarkowski, Pope, Agyei.

Man Utd: De Gea, Young, Bailly, Blind, Darmian, Ander Herrera, Fellaini, Pogba, Lingard, Rooney, Martial. Subs: Carrick, Rashford, Romero, Mkhitaryan, Shaw, Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Updated

Daniel will be here soon. In the meantime, here’s José Mourinho on Manchester United’s injuries.:

José Mourinho has admitted Manchester United “are in trouble” due to an injury crisis after Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo suffered what are feared to be season-ending injuries in Thursday’s Europa League victory over Anderlecht.

United have been drawn to face Celta Vigo in the semi-finals of the tournament after beating Anderlecht 3-2 on aggregate. Lyon will play Ajax in the other semi. Mourinho, whose side play Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday, said: “We are in trouble. In this moment, Eric Bailly played six matches in a row, and we lost Marcos Rojo, we don’t have [Phil] Jones or [Chris] Smalling, we are in trouble and now we lose Zlatan too.

“But in attack we have options and [Wayne] Rooney is coming [back] and let’s see if [Juan] Mata can also return before the end of the season – let’s see what happens.”

 

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