Manchester United ended the first half against Burnley with a one-goal advantage, but Amad Diallo and his teammates should have been out of sight already.
Ruben Amorim demanded a reaction from his players following the humiliating Carabao Cup elimination at the hands of Grimsby Town on Wednesday. In his pre-match interview with Sky Sports, the manager insisted that he and his men have no excuse this time, as anything other than a victory would be considered an unacceptable result.
Apparently, the Man Utd players took the message to the heart, entering the pitch with a vastly contrasting attitude to midweek.
Man United take the lead thanks to Cullen’s own goal
The Red Devils dominated the action from start to finish, before taking a well-deserved lead in the 27th minute, albeit thanks to Josh Cullen’s own goal.
However, the Old Trafford crowds were left to lament the number of missed opportunities, especially towards the end of the first half.
In the final minutes of normal time, Bruno Fernandes spotted an unmarked Amad on the edge of the area and set him up with a wonderful cross. The Ivorian smashed a vicious volley goalwards, but was denied by Martin Dubravka.
Despite the miss, Diallo was hailed for his technique by Sky Sports correspondent Danyal Khan
“Unbelievable technique by Amad to hit that with the inside of his foot on the volley.
“United will feel, as they did against Arsenal and Fulham, they should have more goals to show for their first half performance – the big test will be if they can back it up in the second.”
Amad Diallo had two contrasting moments in the space of minutes
However, Amad was guilty of wasting a glorious opportunity just a few minutes later after being set up by Bryan Mbeumo. With the goal at his mercy, the 22-year-old’s shot went begging. This attempt was labelled as an absolute shocker by Sky pundit Paul Merson.
“Brilliant play from Man Utd. Amad just has to side-foot it into an empty net, but puts it over the bar. It’s an absolute shocker. Brilliant move, shocking miss. Amad has to score.”
That should’ve broke the net pic.twitter.com/HxeRtzVAjN
— UtdXclusive (@UtdXclusive) August 30, 2025
Man United fans feared these wasted chances would return to haunt them in the second half, and indeed they did, with Lyle Foster levelling the score in the 55th minute.
Thankfully for Man Utd, Mbeumo restored the lead just seconds after the restart, only for Burnley to equalise again through Jaidone Anthony after some shambolic defending.
