Five things we learnt as brilliant Sesko finally breaks free of his chains in 2-2 draw

Manchester United travelled to Turf Moor to face Burnley in their first match since the seismic decision to sack Ruben Amorim. Darren Fletcher took charge and reverted to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Senne Lammens started in goal, with Luke Shaw at left back and Ayden Heaven and Lisandro Martinez forming the central defensive duo. Diogo Dalot started at right back. Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte started in the midfield pivot, with Bruno Fernandes returning from injury to his familiar number ten role. Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu started either side of Benjamin Sesko in a three-man attack. Here are five things we learnt from the game. Ayden Heaven unlucky again Heaven has had an impressive month or so in the centre of the United defence. He stood up admirably to Newcastle United and has played well above his age and experience. Nonetheless, he was unlucky in his positioning against Leeds United, which resulted in their goal, and was also very unfortunate tonight. Burnley opened the scoring after a cross was unfortunately deflected by Heaven into the net over a stranded Lammens. The youngster is so talented that most fans will have no issue tolerating these growing pains, but it has hardly been a classic week for the youngster. Bruno Fernandes is essential United missed Fernandes for three games over Christmas, and it showed. The Portuguese was clearly not at his flowing best after returning from injury, but he did not need to be. His wonderful pass to Sesko allowed the Slovenian to crash in the equaliser and unpick a tight Burnley defence. Fernandes also produced a beautiful ball in the first half, which almost resulted in Dorgu scoring his second goal of the season. United fans will hope that their maestro can stay fit over the next few months to ignite their Champions League hopes. Sesko gets his goal The Slovenian has struggled in front of goal and has missed some glorious chances to score over the Christmas period. He was also wasteful in the first half, but his moment arrived early in the second half. The forward latched onto a great ball by his captain and tucked away his first goal since October. Sesko scored his second on the hour mark when he expertly finished Dorgu’s inch-perfect cross to give his side the lead. The young forward still has much to prove, but tonight’s showing will certainly begin to silence some of his doubters. Defensive frailties need solved now United dominated the match and had many more chances than their hosts. After unluckily falling behind, they fought their way back to take the lead. However, in a frequent occurrence this season, they threw away their lead with careless defending. Whoever takes over long term at United, fixing a leaky defence will be one of their major priorities. Casemiro is a problem The Brazilian started the season quite well, but his form has fallen off a cliff lately. The worst of Casemiro was on display tonight as he was late to the ball and frequently missed tackles. His defensive positioning was all at sea at times, as he failed to keep up with the match. The former Real Madrid man was also poor on the ball, often wasting possession in key areas. He will need to drastically change his form if he is to have any future at the club beyond the summer. Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.