By Burnley FC
October 29 2016
Manchester United 0 Burnley 0 Brave Burnley secured their first away point of the season with a magnificent rearguard action led by returning hero Tom Heaton. Heaton produced a goalkeeping masterclass to keep his former club at bay as the Clarets avoided defeat at Old Trafford for the first time since 1974.
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Burnley's last win at Manchester United came in 1962 and while the wait goes on to re-write that bit of history, this performance will be remembered for a long time by the Clarets' supporters who filled their corner of the famous old ground.
Burnley defended magnificently and competed superbly with United - down to 10 men for the last 25 minutes following the dismissal of Ander Herrera and with Jose Mourinho watching from the directors' box after his own half-time dismissal - simply unable to overcome a display full of commitment and character that epitomised everything Sean Dyche has brought to Burnley on the eve of his fourth anniversary as manager.
United had won just one of their previous six league games but knocked Manchester City out of the EFL Cup in mid-week to steady the ship.
Manager Mourinho stuck with nine of that starting line-up as Wayne Rooney's return got only as far as a place among the substitutes.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic therefore continued to lead the home's side attack, with support from Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard in the wide positions, but the big summer signing had gone five consecutive league games without scoring for the first time since 2010.
And the former Paris St-Germain, Barcelona and Inter Milan striker was kept waiting when Heaton made the first of a handful of top-class saves which added up to an afternoon of torment for the Swedish star.
Ibrahimovic and captain Juan Mata looked to combine at every opportunity and when Mata slipped in Ibrahimovic in, the 35-year-old looked a certain scorer until Heaton spread himself to make a fine block.
To read the complete match report please click on the link below; |
