Brendan O'Brien: Theatre of Dreams? Maybe if you’re in the away dressing-room

IT said it all about the predicament in which Manchester United find themselves that their 2-0 defeat to Burnley at Old Trafford on Wednesday night felt like a huge deal for the visitors but, in a very strange way, just more of the same for those home supporters who clogged the exits with ten minutes still to play.

This was Burnley’s first win at the ground since September 1962. The Soviet Union started shipping arms to Cuba that same month, John F Kennedy made his promise about landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade and Sonny Liston floored Floyd Paterson to claim the world heavyweight title in Chicago.