O Captain! My Captain!
Manchester United earned an arduous 3-2 victory over Burnley FC following a match that should not have been so much trouble for the Reds.
In the second minute of second-half stoppage, Amad Diallo ran past Burnley’s Jaidon Anthony, forcing a shirt pull as Amad entered the penalty area. The foul was eventually ruled worthy of a penalty kick after an agonizing long on-field video review.
Making up for a shocking miss last week at Fulham, Bruno Fernandes walked up to the spot, and he fired a low shot to the inside of the left netting, beating Burnley keeper (and former Manchester United loaner) Martin Dúbravka.
However, a dramatic stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot didn’t need to be the way United won the match.
Manchester United dominated the first half, owning 60 percent of the possession while firing off 15 shots, including four on target, compared to Burnley’s measly two off-target shots and winning five corners to Burnley’s zero.
United drew first blood in the 27th minute after Diego Dalot drew a Kyle Walker foul deep up the left wing. Fernandes fired a cross into the box, finding the forehead of Casemiro. The Brazilian powered the ball toward goal, but the ball hit just high enough on the crossbar that it ricocheted. Fortunately for United, the ball banged off of Burnley’s Josh Cullen and beat Dúbravka over the goalline.
The scoreline held through the halftime whistle.
Things flipped in the 55th minute when Burnley’s Lyle Foster snuck through the defensive line to poke in a cross. Then, 13 seconds after the restart, Bryan Mbeumo scored his first league goal for United (and United’s first league goal scored by a United player this season), converting a cut-back pass from Dalot.
Two minutes later, United would benefit from a razor-thin offside ruling after Foster rounded past Altay Bayindir to pass the ball into the back of the net. Foster’s original run to receive the ball in the box was deemed illegal after his elbow was offside.
Burnley found their second equalizer in the 66th minute. A long throw-in from Walker entered the box, and Bayindir initially saved a Burnley shot attempt. However, the keeper could not corral the ball, and a putback by Anthony made its way into the net.
The promise of what’s possible with Benjamin Šeško presented itself late in the second half. Two different crosses to Šeško in the last two minutes allowed the striker to showcase his versatility, as he attempted a dangerous header of the ball, albeit both attempts missed the mark. He leapt over his marker to get to a high cross, before he glanced another attempt while running onto a cross.
More concerning, United did not leave the match unscathed.
In the 30th minute, Matheus Cunha pulled and spent a few minutes on the ground, receiving attention from the medical staff. When he walked off the pitch, he immediately exited through the tunnel, and, now, it seems United will be missing one of its marquee signings heading into a matchup with Manchester City on the other side of the upcoming international break.
Category: General Sports
