Manchester U 2 Burnley 2
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2, Old Trafford, English Premier League, January 29, 2019. Manchester United came from being two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw against Burnley at home. Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood scored for The Clarets in the 51st and 81st minutes respectively, but late goals from Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelof saw United rescue a point.
Manchester United´s winning streak of eight games came to an end as they were held to a draw by a determined and well-structured Burnley side. In fact, United were only a few seconds seconds away from losing to the Turf Moor club at their Old Trafford home. The Lancastrians went into a 2-0 lead by the 81st minute thanks to Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood, but Manchester United answered back with goals from Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelof in the closing stages. United had defeated Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Brighton and Hove Albion in their previous six Premier League matches, whereas Burnley had overcome West Ham United, Huddersfield Town, and Fulham, drawn against Watford, and been defeated by Arsenal and Everton in their last six Premiership fixtures. Manchester United appeared to be somewhat overconfident following their recent good results, though, and there was undoubtedly a certain element of underestimating the opponent. United enjoyed long periods of possession and pressure in the first half of the clash, but the hosts struggled to create decent scoring opportunities. After the interval, and against the flow of play, Burnley eventually grabbed a surprise lead six minutes into the second half when Barnes took full advantage from a mistake by ex-PSV Eindhoven midfielder Andreas Pereira before hammering the ball into the net and the visitors, who now smelled blood, went further in front with nine minutes left as Wood beat United goalkeeper David de Gea with a well-placed header from a Ashley Westwood cross. But Manchester United refused to give up and were duly rewarded when Pogba reduced the deficit with a converted penalty in the 87th minute of the tussle before Lindelof netted a close range equaliser during stoppage time.
A hard-working and strong-running defender, Victor Lindelof had joined Manchester United from Portuguese giants Benfica for a transfer fee of €35 million at the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign, with a potential €10 million in add-ons, and the Swede would go on to make 40 first team outings for the club during the 2018-19 campaign, bringing his total appearances in all competitions to 69. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: “We started the match almost feeling like the eight previous games meant we could start the game with a 1-0 lead, but it doesn’t happen like this. We have to earn the right to win the match by having a good start. They made it difficult for us, but then again we had a great comeback.” Manchester United Team: David de Gea, Luke Shaw, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof, Ashley Young, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Andreas Pereira, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford. Nemanja Matic. Substitutes: Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez, Chris Smalling, Diogo Dalot, Fred, Ander Herrera, Sergio Romero. Burnley Team: Tom Heaton, Charlie Taylor, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, Phil Bardsley, Ashley Westwood, Jack Cork, Jeff Hendrick, Ashley Barnes, Chris Wood, Dwight McNeil. Substitutes: Josh Benson, Johann Gudmundsson, Stephen Ward, Matej Vydra, Ben Gibson, Sam Vokes, Joe Hart.
Manchester United Quickfacts
Manchester United, then known as Newton Heath, were held to a 1-1 draw against local rivals Burnley in a League Division One fixture at North Road in Clayton on the 10th of September 1892.
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