Clear the streets and get the bus parade ready because Man Utd are
BACK!
I say give us the title now 🤷♂️.
Indeed, Ruben Amorim and his Reds tasted sweet victory for the first time this season in ALL competitions after seeing his side beat fellow relegation contenders Burnley 3-2 at a wet Old Trafford.
Perhaps winning the league is getting too ahead of myself but I do belive that we have a chance of staying up 🙌. With the Clarets, we know that there is at least one team worse than us. Seriously though, Burnley should be relegated for this loss. Utterly embarrassing on their part.
Lineup
Once more, Amorim fielded a side that gave us more questions than answers.
Bayindir coming in for Onana was a no brainer but after how the midfield has performed this season and a decent display at Grimsby on Wednesday, you would've thought that Mainoo would start. He didn't.
But the biggest surprise was not seeing Sesko as striker. The Slovenian on the bench for his second league game in a row. This meant it fell to Cunha to play as the no 9 and Mount keeping his place in the starting XI.
Another strange team and one that needed to work.
First Half
Admittedly, despite our shiteness, we do seem to be starting games off a lot better.
Against both Arsenal and Fulham, United began those games on the front foot playing some good football and creating good early chances. The same followed here.
However, much like in those opening two matches, failure to make the most of the early chances came back to haunt Amorim.
Yet perhaps the biggest blow suffered was Cunha. United's new maverick had to be taken off 30 minutes in after looking like he pulled up with a hamstring injury. The United boss had his head in his hands almost as if his team conceded another silly goal. That did happen in time but reacting like this to losing his new star man indicates how significant a blow this could be to the Portuguese.
Luckily though, in spite of losing Cunha, United managed to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net. When I say United, I mean more like Burnley.
Similarly to Fulham last week, Scott Parker's side felt sorry for us and decided to put the ball into their own net.
A free-kick from captain Bruno found the head of an unmarked Casemiro whose header came off the bar only to ricochet off Cullen before the ball just about made it over the line. Ex-United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka couldn't keep it out.
We're so good even the opposition want to score for us 🤷♂️.
Not long after that goal, you could see the home side playing with a lot more confidence as both Amad and substitute Zirkzee had two great chances to put United even further ahead just before the break.
Amorim visibly frustrated with his side being wasteful.
Second Half
Into the second period and straight away, a change by the manager. The man who's been in the headlines in recent days for reasons we don't want to hear in Mainoo, comes on to replace Mount, who I thought was having another good game.
Yet it was the away side who looked to have come out of the break on the front foot. Burnley appeared more energetic and at United and just 10 minutes in, Lyle Foster makes it 1-1.
Poor marking at the back by Dalot who left his man free out wide. That was followed by even poorer marking in the box as despite seemingly having the entire team in defense, Foster found himself free in the 6-yard area for a tap-in.
1-1. All of us thinking about how we might rue those missed chances.
The good thing was that we didn't let that equalizer get the better of us as literally from the restart, we make it 2-1! A very old school, root-one way of doing things: Bayindir long ball to Zirkzee, he flicks it on, Dalot makes up for his poor defending by getting the assist for Mbeumo to score a tap-in.
The new signing scoring in back-to-back games showing that he's finding his feet at Old Trafford. He also became our first scorer in the league this season.
Good for him to have another good game.
United then began to stamp their authority even more but continued to miss chance after chance. With 20+ shots at goal, Amorim’s side had just 5 on target.
And of course, with us cocking up so much, it was Burnley who ended up scoring the next goal. Another silly one to concede as after a long throw-in by former City man Kyle Walker, Anthony ended up putting the ball in the back of the net.
A bit of pinball in the box led to a pretty easy chance for the Burnley man.
At this point, we’re thinking ‘here we go again.’
There was also a chance for a third for Burnley as Foster once again, scored. However, after a VAR review, he was adjudged offside, just. Looking at it though, you could argue that he was onside. Even the image showing him being offside looked to confirm why he should have been given onside.
Strange call.
This called the manager to look for his new striker as Sesko came on to try and show the rest of the team how it's done
Further opportunities ensued but once again, United were wasteful in the final third. Sesko himself missing a header. Guess I was wrong about him showing up his teammates 🤣.
But just when all hoped seemed lost, penalty.
With 5 minutes added time, this meant that surely there would be one more chance. Thankfully there was. Good interplay between Bruno and Amad resulted in a foul. Not given by the on field referee but after VAR intervention, he was called over to the monitor.
We all know what that means.
Amad had his shirt pulled stemming him from getting the ball. The referee overturned his decision and a penalty was awarded. I thought it was a foul but it looked outside the box but hey, we ain't complaining 🤷♂️.
Up stepped the captain.
After last week’s miss, there would’ve been a lot of nerves ahead of this spot kick. The skipper did his usual routine and was NOT bumped into by the referee this time (thank goodness). We then saw a more composed figure who did what he traditionally does and slots it into the bottom corner.
Fernandes showing his nerves of steel in what was a pressure penalty.
That gave United the lead and ultimately, the 3 points we were all looking for, Amorim especially who of course, looked in the opposite direction whilst that spot kick was being taken.
Verdict on Amorim
Another confusing lineup. After a couple of games, you would’ve thought that he would certainly start his new striker but you would've been wrong. He once again opted for the false 9 approach.
To be fair to him, it does seem to be working as there is a fluidity to the attack with Mbeumo, Cunha and Mount all holding their own up front with three of them interchanging throughout the game, but there will come a point when not selecting Sesko will make you think why was he signed at all?
We could also see a bit of a drop off in intensity and control when Cunha and Mount came off which displayed how important they have become to Amorim. Cunha being injured will no doubt hurt the manager.
Other than that and perhaps playing Dalot on the left instead of Dorgu, which was another strange decision, his team were the better side and deserved to win, which isn't something we say too often.
We weren’t troubled that much defensively yet when we were, Amorim will be unhappy at how poor his players defended those Burnley goals.
The other issue is the type of goals we're conceding. Most of them are silly and avoidable rather than the opposition playing through us like prime Barcelona.
Then there’s the problem with the missed chances. He can only do so much as a manager before it comes down to the players to score.
That game should’ve been wrapped up in the first half just like at Fulham last week. He needs to find a solution to that. Maybe this is where Sesko can come in.
In the end though, he will be content with his team’s overall performance as it was certainly much better than what we saw on Wednesday night. Trying to play like this consistently is the next challenge as up next, is the derby 😬.
"When they [#mufc players] put the effort in, I will always love them” - Ruben Amorim.
Ratings
Bayindir - 5.5
Yoro - 6
De Ligt - 6
Shaw - 6
Amad - 5.5
Bruno - 6
Casemiro - 5.5
Dalot - 4.5
Mbeumo - 7 MOTM
Mount - 6
Cunha - 6
Zirkzee - 6
Mainoo - 5.5
Sesko - 5.5
Mazraoui - 6
Ruben Amorim - 6.5
Final Thoughts
Good to finally see some goals (and from us rather than the opposition) as well as getting the win. We deserved that as fans more than anyone.
I was also happy with the overall performance and for Mbeumo. I thought he started off a little sluggish this season but in the last two games, we’ve seen what he’s made off.
Disappointed with the Cunha injury but getting win before the break does give us something to work with moving forward.
Now we want to see this team kick on and play in this manner regularly. We know that we can perform well against the top sides and with City and Chelsea in the next two matches, you never know, maybe that United Strand guy could be the closest yet to cutting his hair!
Man Utd beat Burnley 3-2 with Bruno Fernandes scoring late penalty | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)