Manchester United completed a third win in the space of a week with a 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.
Despite not dazzling with the ball at their feet, United were compact and resolutely protected their lead in the second half of the contest. Strangely, this was United’s first win at the Lancashire club’s home stadium in 41 years.
United earned the lead in just the 11th minute of the game through a classic counterattack, and cut open the opposition backline. After winning the ball in the opposition box, The Red Devils broke away with speed. Anthony Martial showed fabulous composure in front of goal to latch on to a neat return ball from Ander Herrera, shuffle the ball onto his left foot and slot the ball home.
With six minutes left in the second half, United got a second goal and it came through Wayne Rooney, who was playing in place of the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It was a scrappy effort at at the goalmouth but United’s all-time top goalscorer showed good awareness to pounce on the opportunity.
Jose Mourinho’s men ran out steam in the second half, and Burnley looked more of a threat around the hour mark. The home side, though, showed little bite going forward and failed to test David de Gea’s goal.
United (63 points from 32 games) are now only a solitary point behind cross-town rivals Manchester City (64 points from 32 games), who are fourth in the table.
Brief score:
- Burnley 0 lose to Manchester United 2 (Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney)