Manchester United clinched a thrilling 3-2 win over Burnley in their Premier League game at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The hosts should have been out of sight in the first half itself, but for some glaring misses and great goalkeeping from former loanee Martin Dubravka.
Another own goal handed the Red Devils the lead, but Burnley equalised early in the second half. A sucker punch always seemed coming after the sheer number of chances missed in the opening 45 minutes.
Ruben Amorim’s side responded instantly, with Bryan Mbeumo scoring his second for the club after his first against Grimsby Town in mid-week.
But the lead lasted only 10 minutes as the Clarets equalised again after some less-than-stellar goalkeeping from Altay Bayindir.
United should’ve scored a lot more
At that time, it looked like another draw was on the cards but Amad won a late penalty which skipper Bruno Fernandes converted to ease the pressure on his compatriot.
There were plenty of positives, most notably the inter-play between the attacking stars and the chances they carved out from open play.
While that will have impressed the head coach, their impact from corners was great to see from a fan’s perspective.
For a long time, United supporters have seen other teams take advantage of their weakness from set-pieces, but against Burnley, United could have scored at least three times from corners.
New corner routine looked very dangerous
And instead of hounding the goalkeeper every time, their new routine where everybody rushes forward to leave one man free on the edge of the box worked like a treat each time.
Amad made Dubravka work from a sweetly-struck volley, while the skipper’s shot went inches wide. Having multiple routines will, hopefully, stand the team in good stead given how many chances the team keep spurning.
Amorim will be concerned with the team’s form in front of goal, given the 20-time English league champions had 26 shots but only won courtesy a last-minute penalty.
And the goalkeeping issue continues to pose a question, with Bayindir committing his second error from three league games. Senne Lammens cannot come soon enough.
Feature image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
