The United manager got the perfect response from his team
after back-to-back defeats, with their 10 men cruising home on Sunday
After back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Tottenham,
there were plenty of debates as to what Manchester United needed. A new
manager? A new direction within the boardroom? A renewed vigour from their
players?
One thing that couldn’t be questioned was their need to
bounce back with a win at Burnley on Sunday, and boy did Jose Mourinho’s side
deliver.
The action-packed 2-0 victory at Turf Moor was a showcase of
many of the best traits of Manchester United. They took the game to their
opponents, got themselves into a winning position and threatened to score
plenty more than their final tally. And even after going down to 10 men after
Marcus Rashford’s second-half red card they continued to make chances while
also showing the guts necessary to deal with Burnley’s desperate attacks at the
other end.
It couldn’t have been scripted better by Mourinho no matter
how hard he tried. The manager had got himself worked up in the week, referring
time and again to his previous honours in a bit to build a siege mentality
between him and the Manchester United supporters.
There was even a pre-match plane protest by a group of
United fans, with the words ‘Ed Woodward: A specialist in failure!’ being
displayed in the skies as the debate over the executive vice-chair’s
relationship with the manager intensifies.
But it was the performance on the pitch that was always
going to speak loudest, and here United provided the perfect answer to the
critics.
They started with purpose and desire, even if their play
didn’t always have the same slick feel about it which had been evident in the
first half at Old Trafford on Monday night. Jesse Lingard had a trio of
opportunities early on, while Alexis Sanchez regularly got into good crossing
positions and both Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw were getting forward at will.
United eventually got the goal they had threatened when
Sanchez waited and waited on the ball before delivering an inch-perfect cross
for Romelu Lukaku to head home. It was a much-needed goal for a striker whose
first-half miss against Spurs had been pinpointed by many as a key moment in
the embarrassing defeat.
He would have another before half-time, sweeping home from
inside the six-yard box after Jesse Lingard’s initial shot had been partially
blocked. The 2-0 lead was a more than fair reflection on proceedings as a jaded
Burnley barely laid a glove on United.
The visitors were equally dominant to begin the second half
and should have had a third when substitute Marcus Rashford was fouled by Aaron
Lennon in the Burnley area. But Paul Pogba’s penalty was saved by Joe Hart and
within two minutes Rashford’s afternoon would be at an end.
The England attacker responded to Phil Bardsley’s niggle in
a challenge on the bye-line by planted his head on the ex-United defender.
After showing Bardsley a yellow card, Jonathan Moss produced a red for Rashford
just 10 minutes after he had replaced Sanchez.
Even down to 10 men United were on top. Lukaku was somehow
being denied a hat-trick by Ben Mee and Pogba dragged a shot just across goal,
underlining even further how superior Mourinho’s side were.
As the final whistle approached the chant of
"Mourinho’s red and white army" could be heard long and loud from the
away end, just as it had in the Stretford End on Monday. It carried much
cheerier tones this time around though, and nobody will be more relieved than
the manager himself.
His side did the business for him in a game he could
ill-afford to lose.
