New-Look United moves to fifth, beat Burney 2-0

At Turf Moor, Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a point to prove. After an emphatic win against Newcastle United, the Red Devils had to show the same intent and the same result to show their fans that they aren’t finished. The result, in the end, showed the same.

With a 2-0 victory against Burnley, Manchester United moved up three places, to the fifth position in the table with just one point less than Chelsea. Manchester United might be making their comeback to the top four contentions but nothing is concrete yet as other clubs are also waiting for the opportunity.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named a playing XI with four changes. Ashley Young and Brandon Williams featured in place of Aaron Wan Bissaka and Luke Shaw in the full-back spots. Nemanja Matic replaced the Scottish midfielder and Daniel James made into the XI by replacing young Mason Greenwood.

Manchester United, as usual, started the game with lot of possession as Burnley enjoyed sitting back. However, the goalkeeper wasn’t called into action until the 33rd minute. Nick Pope, Burnley’s No1, had to pull off a save when Rashford almost scored a screamer from long-range free-kick. However, the joy didn’t last for long as Anthony Martial scored a goal with his cool tempo after collecting a through pass from Andreas Periera in the 44th minute. United went into the half time with one goal lead against Sean Dyche’s men.

Even though Burnley failed to create any sort of openings in the first half, they were more positive in the second half and tried to create chances. Their first chance came in the 68th minute when former Red Devil Phil Bardsley, called David de Gea into action with a fine low drive. However, the Spaniard parried the ball away into safety.

As time passed by, Burnley went on targetting United’s territory but to their avail, they couldn’t find any goal. As their efforts continued, Manchester United nailed the final nail in Burnley’s coffin as Rashford scored in the 95th minute of the game. The goal in the injury time ensured Manchester United back to back victories at the end of the year and a glimmer of hope for their top-four contention.

Scoreline: Manchester United 2- Burnley 0

Goalscorers: Anthony Martial(44′), Marcus Rashford(90+5′)