Right, as José skips off into the sunset, time to call time here. I’ll leave you with Andy Hunter’s match report. Bye!
José Mourinho speaks! He says United were very good but should have scored more, praised Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelöf, and praised fans for their support after the home defeat to Tottenham.
“We played well in the first 10 minutes, creating chances – a bit like the Tottenham game. We should have scored 6,7 or 8, but the team was strong, we defended well. Even with 10 men for the last 20, 25 minutes.”
“Fellaini was very important, but I think everybody had the correct approach. We worked very well this week, preparing for the game – but we should have scored more. Both the central defenders played very well.”
“The reaction at Old Trafford to the defeat [to Spurs] was fundamental for the happiness of the team this week. The fans were fantastic today too, but at Old Trafford, that was a moment to remember.”
According to BBC Sport, Mourinho has called Marcus Rashford “naive” after his red card for bumping heads with Phil Bardsley. That’s a pretty good word for it, really. Not the first time Bardsley has squared up to a United striker, of course.
It was a good day for José Mourinho with a hard-fought away win, and that plane banner directing blame towards Ed Woodward. It’s been a tough week for Burnley though, out of the Europa League and now with one point from four. They should be OK now the European adventure is over, but a shame it has to be one or the other.
Here’s an early match report:
Hello, Niall here jumping in for a bit of post-match reaction. A decent trio of top-six away trips today – United’s win here, Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Cardiff, and at Vicarage Road, where Watford have just beaten Spurs:
Full-time: Burnley 0-2 Manchester United
And that’s it. A deserved - and welcome - victory for United. They were the better side, and were impressively aggressive after they went down to 10 men. Lukaku was United’s best player, and led the line impressively. The downside for United is that they have lost Rashford for three games after his straight red card. Burnley were curiously flat and it took until the last few minutes for them to produce their best chances. United are up to 10th, and there’s a better mood around Old Trafford as they go into the international break.
Updated
90 min +2: Burnley’s best chances come too late. Vokes has a header from a few yards out that isn’t good enough to beat De Gea and then Vydra misses with his follow-up. Herrera blasts the ball into Hart’s body at the other end.
90 min: Barnes dribbles a shot wide. United have maintained their superiority, even after going down to 10 men. There will be four minutes of added time.
89 min: Herrera tries an attempt from long-range. It scuds along the pitch but doesn’t trouble Hart.
86 min: Mee tangles with Lukaku again. He handles the ball as he falls over and it looks like he stopped Lukaku from going through on goal. He escapes a card, I assume because it was accidental. In fact, the ref doesn’t even give a free-kick. He perhaps thought Lukaku fouled his opponent, but I think he was just stronger in a 50-50.
83 min: Wood trots off and Vydra comes on for Burnley.
82 min: Was that a bad miss from Lukaku or good defending/keeping from Burnley. Well, Lukaku looked great as he beat his man and skipped past Hart but couldn’t keep his balance and was under pressure from Mee as he tried to finish. It looks like it won’t have an effect on the result. For now. De Gea saves well from a Vokes header.
80 min: Lukaku races though the middle after a beautiful ball from Pogba. He surges past Mee and has to swerve round Hart. It’s enough to slow him down and, under pressure, from Mee he can’t put the ball into the empty net. Barnes comes on for McNeil.
77 min: This has become a very good game. United, to their credit, are pressing forward and Burnley are hitting them right back (not literally, apart from Bardsley maybe). United are playing in a very light pink today and Steve Curley has views. “The kit man should be fired,” he writes. “He’s clearly been mixing colors. I mean, this is laundry 101.” Poor Jesse Lingard has odd socks.
74 min: Another great save from Hart as Lukaku bears down on goal. The former England keeper rushes out and smothers the ball - he has been very good today. Obviously. At the other end, Shaw brings down Lennon just outside the area and is booked. The free-kick ends up on Vokes’s head about two yards out but it loops wide.
RED CARD! Rashford (71 min)
Fight! A small fight! Bardsley has a kick at Rashford as they tangle. Rashford does not appreciate it and his burrows his head towards Bardsley. The ref books Barsley and sends Rashford off. He had an interesting 11 minutes on the pitch, anyway - he won a penalty and was then sent off.
Updated
Joe Hart saves Pogba's penalty!
Pogba sends the ball to Hart’s right and the keeper gets his hands to it. It loops off to the left and it’s still 2-0. A good save from Hart, but Pogba stared at the spot where he was going to hit it.
69 min: Smalling is in rib-cracking territory as he attempts to get on the end of a wicked cross and ends up colliding with the advertising screens. The next attack is more successful though - Lennon clatters into Rashford and it’s a United penalty.
66 min: Lennon has a dart at Shaw, who blocks the cross and Burnley have a throw-in - which results in another throw-in. Well, at least they kept possession.
64 min: McNeil delivers a nice cross, which Wood gets his head to and De Gea saves low to his left. Smartly done by the goalkeeper but there wasn’t too much venom in Wood’s shot.
61 min: United substitution: Rashford trots on for Alexis, who had a good game - particularly that cross for the opener. Cork has a thrash but the ball sails very high over the bar.
58 min: Lindelof’s recall had been questioned by some but he’s been solid enough this afternoon. Vokes is on for Hendrick for Burnley.
55 min: United win a corner, which Burnley clear. Sanchez then just misses finding Lingard with a through ball. “Do you think any of the journalists will have the bottle to ask Jose how much it cost for the banner to fly over today,” asks Keith Tucker. Who knows he may be in a good mood after today’s performance.
52 min: Taylor’s cross is claimed by De Gea, and Burnley are starting to press a little more. But there’s a mix up and Lingard nips in to steal the ball and as he turns to stride up the pitch, McNeil commits a foul. A foul for which, he is booked.
48 min: Lingard turns nicely and zips up the field but the attack fizzles out. United appear happy to keep possession and let Burnley chase them around.
45 min: And we’re off again. Here’s Duncan Edwards: “OK, it doesn’t fit the current biased narrative, but why not be honest and report ‘United have been on top for most of the first half and it could easily be three or four at this point?’ Because what you’ve written so far is bit of a sham, Tom.”
Got it: United have been on top for most of the first half and it could easily be three or four at this point. Let it never be said we don’t do anything for our readers.
Updated employment news after that half:
José Mourinho’s current job status: safe
Manchester United current protest banner’s job status: in danger
Half-time: Burnley 0-2 Manchester United
United have been the better side but Burnley have been curiously flat. It’s exactly the kind of opponent’s performance you need when your managerial skills are being brought into question, or you’re the vice-chairman of a football giant and people are flying mean banners about you above football grounds.
GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Man Utd (Lukaku 44)
Lukaku again. He makes a nuisance of himself in the area and spreads it out to Lingard, whose shot smacks into Tarkowski’s chest. The ball then flops at the feet of Lukaku, who rams the ball home.
Updated
43 min: Alexis cuts in and unleashes a shot but it’s blocked by a Burnley body. Lukaku then attempts to find him with a toe-poked pass but Hart is quickly on to the ball.
40 min: As bad as United’s start to the season has been, Burnley’s has been even worse and there are a few burbles of discontent around the stadium as they find themselves down again.
37 min: Lukaku steams up the centre of the pitch but doesn’t see Lingard making a run to his right - the Englishman was completely unmarked. Instead, he plays a one-two with Sanchez but Hart - who has played well - smothers the shot and the ball drops to a defender.
35 min: Lennon zooms back like it was 2007 and dispossesses Alexis, who was building up some steam. Lukaku then tries to find Valencia with a backheel in the box but it doesn’t quite come off. Nice thought though.
32 min: Valencia barrels into his opponent and Burnley are given the free-kick. Earlier, Smalling had wrestled Wood to the ground but nothing was given.
29 min: Burnley concede where you’d expect them to be strong - defending a cross into the box. Bardsley failed to put any pressure on Alexis, and Mourinho will be a very happy man. Or happier anyway.
GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Manchester United (Lukaku 26)
Lukaku had done very little up until this point. Alexis is given A LOT of time to deliver a cross on to the striker’s head and he leaps to head home. Decent header, excellent cross.
26 min: Burnley put together a few nice passes on the edge of the Untied area but it’s cleared. McNeil’s free-kick earlier was terrible but we’ll forgive him because he’s achieved more at his age that you ever did/will:
18y 284d - Aged 18 years, 284 days, Dwight McNeil is the first teenager to ever start a Premier League game for Burnley. Fledgling. pic.twitter.com/RzQMSzl9Ft
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 2, 2018
24 min: Burnley weathered the early gust from United and the game is pretty even, if anything it’s the home team on top. United have been fairly direct and that seems to suit Burnley, who are dealing with the threat easily enough when it comes.
21 min: Lukaku pushes Taylor in the back as Shaw’s cross pings into the box. And that’s the end of that attack.
19 min: Burnley are getting back into the game. Alexis is booked after pushing Bardsley as his opponent skips in the area. The free-kick is just outside the box. Lennon is unmarked as McNeil prepares to tak... Oh. He punts the ball out and it lands forlornly in the stands, unloved and untouched.
16 min: Tarkowski wins a great header against Fellaini - you had one job, Marouane – and directs the ball across the United area but there’s no one to pick it up. Well, no Burnley player at least.
14 min: Lingard tries his hand (OK, foot) at crossing this time. Hart - who has been solid enough - gets down to take it. Burnley have done very little in attack so far. They’ll get their chance now though after Shaw clatters into Lennon and concedes a free-kick. Chris Wood’s header flops towards De Gea.
11 min: Lingard has his second shot of the game - and he misses the target again. If there’s any discontent against the manager among the players, it’s not being shown on the pitch. They seem very keen to put their stamp on this match. Shaw, in particular, has been good down the left.
8 min: A big old long ball for Alexis to chase but it’s hit too firmly and the pass runs through to Hart. Nice play ensues along the edge of the area with three or four United players involved - it ends with a wicked cross from Valencia and Hart has to palm the ball away. Meanwhile, we have a low-quality pun alert. “Re: protests,” writes Rhys Vaughan Williams. “Was the balloon ‘tribute’ to the current Mayor of London not a commemoration of the anniversary of Princess Di’s untimely demise, via the Elton John song Khan Doll in the Wind?” Oh dear.
5 min: Very peppy from United early. Shaw, who has already had a cross blocked, jinks around before unleashing a shot from just outside the area. It’s decent enough but too close to Hart, who dives to his right to gather it cleanly.
3 min: An early attack from United, Lingard curls the ball to Hart’s left but it doesn’t come back enough and the shot whistles just wide. Chris Wood also has a ramble up front for Burnley but the attack breaks down.
1 min: And we’re off. The match is still 0-0 and Mourinho has not yet been fired. Here’s Benjamin Park: “Is there anything better than watching great (and in this case somewhat [BAD WORD ALERT]) men fall? Is there anything more British than schadenfreude?” Complaining about things quietly under your breath? Flying balloons and banners against authority figures?
Before we kick off at Burnley, the East Anglian derby was played earlier in the day, and you can peruse the report here:
Updated
Here’s some hot protest banner action. Kudos to the United fans for using a long word like “specialist”, which probably cost more to get on the banner (I assume you pay by the letter). Apparently there was a decent - but not huge - amount of applause as it zoomed over the stadium.
Updated
Mourinho has spoken about his decision to include Fellaini in the starting XI. “We hope [he helps in both attack and defence] ... we hope he helps us to play against a team with a certain style of play [mild dig at Burnley. We are going to try with [Fellaini] to cope with the problems that Burnley bring to every match,” he says.
Protest news: no one is bothered about boring old protest marches anymore. Nowadays it’s all about aerial discontent - whether it’s Trump as a big baby or London mayor Sadiq Khan in a fetching bikini. United fans have gone for something a little zippier and plan to perform a flyover (or pay someone to perform a flyover) to show their support for Mourinho and their contempt for vice-chairman Ed Woodward. For his part, the Guardian’s Daniel Taylor things both men share the blame.
As you may be aware, José Mourinho is under a little bit of pressure for this match. United have three points from three games and are 14th in the table. It is, of course, only three league games into the season so we’re not very high on the crisis-ometer just yet. But a bad result today will change things. It’s lucky, then, that United are playing Burnley, who have bumbled along at the start of this season and have yet to win (from a massive sample of three league games). Fellaini’s introduction looks like Mourinho is going for solidity rather than firepower after the embarrassment against Spurs.
Team news
Hello, the teams are in. Mourinho has had made a few changes after the Spurs unpleasantness. Sanchez, Lindelof and Fellaini return to the starting line-up:
Here's your #MUFC starting XI for #BURMUN... pic.twitter.com/RY8sTS69ZR
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 2, 2018
Meanwhile, here’s how Burnley will line-up:
TEAM NEWS: Here's the Clarets side to face @ManUtd in the @premierleague at Turf Moor.
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) September 2, 2018
A full Premier League debut for @dwight_mcneil99 👊 pic.twitter.com/gTPbaacNCC
If you prefer your teams less Twittery, they are:
Burnley: Hart, Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Lennon, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Hendrick, Wood. Subs: Heaton, Lowton, Vokes, Barnes, Ward, Vydra, Long.
Man Utd: de Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Fellaini, Matic, Pogba, Lingard, Lukaku, Sanchez. Subs: Bailly, Rashford, Martial, Grant, Fred, Young, Ander Herrera.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
Tom will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Daniel Taylor on the problems at Old Trafford:
What do you imagine Ed Woodward will be thinking, from his seat in the Bob Lord stand, when a plane flies over Turf Moor this afternoon and the message trailed in the skies makes it clear there are Manchester United supporters who prefer to hold him responsible for the club’s current predicament rather than subjecting José Mourinho to any real form of mutiny?
It will need the thickest of skins, presumably, when the plane’s banner will read “Ed Woodward – specialist in failure” on the same weekend, 10 years since Abu Dhabi’s royal family seized control of Manchester City, that so many column inches have been devoted to the shift in power in this divided city.
You can read the full article here:
