MANCHESTER UNITED HELD TO DRAW AT TURF MOOR
Manchester United dropped to fifth on the Premier League table after they were held to a 1-1 draw on a rainy Tuesday night at Turf Moor. Ralf Rangnick’s side were held to a second consecutive 1-1 draw against bottom of the table Burnley after drawing against Middlesbrough in regular time at Old Trafford in the FA Cup on Friday night. Rangnick made two changes to the side that got knocked out of the cup on penalties by Championship side Middlesbrough, bringing in Edinson Cavani and David De Gea for Cristiano Ronaldo and Dean Henderson.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche made two changes as well to the side that played against Watford in a goalless draw on Saturday; Aaron Lennon and Stephens making way for Jay Rodriguez and Josh Brownhill. Burnley had lost five straight games at Turf Moor against United and had not scored against them at home in over 12 years. Their last goal came from a solo Robbie Blake goal in a memorable 1-0 win in August of 2009.
United started the game well enough and seemed intent on improving on their last outing. They had the ball in the back of the net in the thirteenth minute through a towering header from Raphael Varane but VAR disallowed the goal as Harry Maguire blocked Jay Rodriguez while in an offside position. Disappointing for Raphael Varane who thought he had put United in front. The French international is still looking for his first goal for Manchester United and has not scored in over a year. His last goal came in a league game for Real Madrid against Huesca in January 2021.
The Red Devils were not to be denied five minutes later though as Paul Pogba got on the end of a Luke Shaw cross and hit the ball into the roof of the net. His first goal of the season and in his first Premier League game since he was sent off against Liverpool in October. He had not scored in the Premier League in over a year.
Manchester United had the ball in the net again on the 22-minute mark through a Josh Brownhill own goal. Marcus Rashford got on the end of a cross from Shaw and thumped it into the box which saw Brownhill turn the ball into his own net from close range but the goal was disallowed by the linesman on the far side.
Nick Pope was forced into a couple of good saves as he scrambled across the face of the goal to save a free header from Edinson Cavani at the back post. He also got on the end of two shots from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford and helped keep his team in the game. United went into the half with a slender 1-0 lead.
The visitors were stunned by a rejuvenated Burnley outfit in the second half as new signing Wout Weghorst released Jay Rodriguez with a ball in behind, who chipped it past David De Gea and into the back of the net to tie the score. The Englishman had not scored in 50 league appearances and had to wait for his 100th league goal, which proved crucial for Burnley. The goal sent Turf Moor into an uproar and Burnley looked to capitalize on the momentum as Weghorst forced David De Gea into making a good save from a 25-yard strike six minutes later.
Manchester United were lucky not to go down to 10 men after Harry Maguire, who was the last man, pulled down Jay Rodriguez after he was played in behind. Referee Mike Dean showed the English international a yellow instead of a red card. Another chance befell Dyche’s men as Weghorst got on the end of a Dwight McNeil pass but lashed his effort into the side netting.
Rangnick looked to change the momentum of the game and brought in Cristiano Ronaldo for his first-ever game at Turf Moor. The Portuguese was making an incredible 920th club appearance and looked to end a four-game goalless drought in the league. His best chance came in the 80th minute when he rose highest to meet a Luke Shaw corner but his header was just over the bar.
In the end, the game ended 1-1, a disappointing result for Manchester United but a crucial point for Burnley who remain bottom of the table and four points off of 17th-placed Newcastle, with two games in hand.
United manager Ralf Rangnick criticized the officials for disallowing the two goals but also admitted that his side had not done enough. “We scored three goals. That was different from last Friday when we only scored one goal in the first half. Tonight, we scored three goals,” he said. “At the end, it is a frustrating evening for us because we should have won that game easily after the first half and even the last 25 minutes we had full control and dominated the game but were not decisive enough as we were in the first half.”
Rangnick admitted that he was particularly agitated by the decision to disallow the Josh Brownhill own goal. He said, “In particular, the second one that was disallowed, I watched it right now in the locker room. The linesman flagged for a foul but he flagged 10 seconds after that incident. This was a very soft decision, I must say. But again we played an excellent first half, I thought. We totally dominated the game, scored three goals but two were disallowed.”
“Then in the second half, for the first 10 to 15 minutes, we were just not aggressive enough. It was clear they would come out after the break-in a more aggressive way to play but we were not aggressive in those 15 minutes. We gave away the goal.”
A tale of two very different halves in which Manchester United had five shots on target in the first 45 minutes, but didn’t register a single shot on target in the second. Meanwhile Burnley registered three after finishing the first half without a shot on target. The result leaves United in fifth and three points ahead of North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur who have two and three games in hand respectively.
United will be disappointed by the result and the officiating but Rangnick will be well aware of the importance of picking up points soon enough if they want to finish in the top four this season. Champions League football will be crucial for the Old Trafford outfit if they want to keep star players like Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo past the summer.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero