Three goals in 35 minutes helped Manchester United beat Burnley in their Thursday night league fixture. While the Clarets pulled a goal back minutes after the Red Devils had taken a three-goal lead, it wasn’t enough to spark an unlikely comeback.
A thrilling, end-to-end start to the game between United and Burnley made the contest seem much closer than it turned out to be. Burnley attacked the United goal with purpose in the opening minutes, as Ralf Rangnick’s side themselves looked for an early advantage. That, they achieved in the eighth minute through Scott McTominay; he stole the ball off of Cristiano Ronaldo just as the latter shaped up to shoot, to fire a snap-shot from just outside the box into the bottom corner.
Relative to the events of the game, it took a while for Manchester United to double their lead. The insurance goal arrived in the 27th minute as Jadon Sanco drifted inside from the left and opened his body to curl his shot into the far corner. His shot took a wicked deflection off of Ben Mee and beat Wayne Hennessey in goal. The goal was attributed to Mee by the officials, depriving Sancho of his second in the league.
A third in the 35th minute for the Red Devils meant that those present inside Old Trafford could begin dreaming of a rout. As Hennessey touched McTominay’s thunderous shot onto the post, the rebound fell to Ronaldo, and he tapped it in from close range.
Aaron Lennon pulled a goal back for the Clarets just three minutes later. A loose touch by Eric Bailly allowed Lennon to pounce on the ball. The former Spurs and Everton dragged defenders away from the goal before firing a low shot across the penalty box – and into the corner.
An impressive second-half performance by Hennessey and some familiar wastefulness from the United forwards prevented a bigger margin on the scoreline. Nonetheless, the Red Devils came away with a comfortable win, climbing up to sixth in the table – level on points with fifth-placed West Ham but with a game in hand.
