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Manchester United worked so hard for this victory. United got their 9th win in 11 games and that's impressive where Premier League is concerned. United also got their 7th away win in 8 games. They have been on fire on the road, no doubt.
United took on Burnley which is their remaining outstanding game - the 17th in the Premier League. A win would see United leapfrog Liverpool into the first position and United has long forgotten how that felt since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
Burnley came with the early threat but they couldn't quite get a hang of it. They fired over right from kick-off. They were more determined and aggressive so early in the match. They gave United a run for their money and showed indeed that Turf Moor is a tough place.
Burnley relied heavily on long balls and that is what they are good at, in addition to being dangerous with set pieces. The first 10 minutes, Burnley dominated in every department as United were holding on to their lives.
United was slow to attack, sloppy on the ball, gave the ball away too easily, took too much time on the ball and also indecisive in their gameplay.
United tried to open up Burnley's defence by passing around to draw them out and that produced the first shot on target by United through Fernandes but it was easily gathered by the goalkeeper.
Fernandes played as a 10 but drifts sideways as he wasn't getting more of the ball. Martial, Cavani and Rashford were all kept quiet in the early exchanges. Martial had an acrobatic volley saved with a block after a wonderful exchange from Fernandes and Rashford's footwork.
Lowton also tried to catch De Gea off guard with an audacious long ball which dropped on the net. Fernandes lost the ball twice in the space of seconds which gave Burnley another attack but the ever-impressive Bailly blocked it terrifically.
Cavani's impact is more felt when he comes in as a substitute and he was struggling to get into the game. Martial struggled too as he wasted a glorious chance. He placed his effort above but Cavani was just beside him. He could have easily dropped the pass.
The first 25 minutes, Burnley had 5 attempts as against United's 2. United also thought they have a lifeline when Cavani was stopped at the edge of the box awkwardly. It would have been a red card for Brady who brought Cavani down. A yellow card was given while VAR was reviewing the incidence. The incident before that was a foul against Burnley by Shaw. VAR reviewed that too and Brady's yellow card was cancelled while Shaw received his yellow card and a freekick was given to Burnley. That decision was contentious as it was being debated.
United grew into the game and Maguire thought he had given United the lead when he headed brilliantly but he was ruled to have fouled the defender. In all honesty, the goal should have stood as he had scored before touching the defender. That is also subject to another debate.
Cavani had another chance saved while Martial forced a brilliant save from the goalkeeper with a cuing effort. United stepped up in the closing stages of the first half with Shaw's brilliant run but Rashford struggled to have the ball under his feet. United struggled to have the ball in control to have a proper hit as Cavani also fell victim in the 52nd minute.
United came close several times and controlled proceedings in the second half with Cavani's shot being saved but United wasn't denied for long when Rashford gave a lovely ball to Pogba who volleyed at the edge of the box to open the scoring, with the help of a deflection off Lowton.
Burnley tried to get something out of the game when Brownhill volleyed but his effect was off target. Substitute, Vydra came on and had his shot deflected by the impressive Bailly for a side netting and he threatened not long after again but couldn't keep his shot down.
Burnley threw everything at United but United's patience to score and hold on paid off as Tarkowski fluffed his chance in the 91st minute.
United could have gotten a second goal when Cavani broke through and found Martial but his effort was saved by the goalkeeper's legs albeit tamed.
United now goes to the top of the league for the first time, having played 17 games since the final game of their title-winning campaign in 2012/2013 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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