United fight back to rescue unlikely point

If Jose Mourinho was “The Special One” then were does that leave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the management stakes after Manchester United’s caretaker manager masterminded a thrilling comeback from two goals down inside the final five minutes?

With two of the five minutes of added time gone, Ashley Young’s desperate cross into the area was met by Alexis Sanchez’s header, superbly saved by Tom Heaton, only for defender Victor Lindelof to force home the loose ball.

What a recovery and what relief for the United manager. The Norwegian looked to have finally showed he is human after all, with his decision to hand a rare start to Andreas Pereira coming back to haunt him as the Man United boss saw his side fall behind for the first time in his tenure.

Pereira was caught out badly by Jack Cork after 51 minutes, receiving a short pass from Phil Jones and immediately gifting the ball to his opponent, who quickly found Ashley Barnes in space in the United area.

The Burnley forward did the rest, depositing a devastating finish into the roof of the net which gave David de Gea no chance in the Reds’ goal.

By the time Burnley doubled their lead, 10 minutes from time, United had thrown caution to the wind and left themselves exposed at the back, with Ashley Westwood’s perfect cross hanging in the air long enough for Chris Wood to head in unmarked from six yards out.

United’s approach at least paid off after 87 minutes when Jeff Hendrick was judged to have brought down Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba stroked in the penalty that set up the thrilling finale.

But if the popular Norwegian manager had looked like a man blessed by the football gods in those first weeks in charge, here was a prime example of luck running out and Solskjaer instead surviving on his football wits.

Early signs had certainly been promising enough for the Reds, who should have taken an early lead when Rashford chased a magnificent through- ball from the impressive Pogba, running nearly half the length of the field, exchanging passes with Romelu Lukaku before rolling his shot wide with an awkward, wrong-footed attempt.

It looked a matter of when, not if, United would score and that is always a precarious state of affairs against a Burnley side looking increasingly like the over-achievers of last season rather than the disappointment of the first half of this one.

Solskjaer had gambled before kick-off when he handed Pereira just a third league start of his United career in place of the rested Ander Herrera. Even before his horrendous error, it was a move that left his team exposed in the midfield and United struggling to break down the visitors in the final third.

Luke Shaw chanced his arm with a couple of long-range efforts and there was even a United “goal” for Pogba before the interval, only for it to be ruled out for an early and obvious offside, and another long-range effort off target, this one from Juan Mata.

United seemed to be carrying that momentum into the second half, especially when Mata opened it with a crisp, low shot from just inside the area which forced Heaton into action.

Pogba soon did likewise, a curling effort from wider and further out, and after the shock of going behind, Rashford twice threatened, first forcing Heaton into parrying his shot and then driving an effort inches wide of the right-hand post.

In what was becoming an open and entertaining affair, impressive Burnley youngster Dwight McNeil responded with a spectacular 30-yard shot that brought an equally spectacular punched save out of de Gea.

But Solskjaer had seen enough and, too late arguably, Pereira came off for Lingard, another in-form player rested on the night, to be quickly followed by the introduction of Sanchez.

The pressure was predictable and impressive — so too the Burnley defending and goalkeeping. The highlight of the rearguard action came on 66 minutes when Heaton somehow kept out a strong near-post flick from Lukaku which looked destined for the bottom corner.

Pogba headed over and Rashford again disappointed, this time being shepherded off the ball by Taylor in a scoring position, a miss that was rendered doubly costly when Wood scored seconds later.

MAN UNITED (4-3-3):

De Gea 7; Young 7, Jones 5, Lindelof 5, Shaw 6; Pereira 5 (Lingard 62, 6), Matic 6, Pogba 7; Mata 7, Lukaku 6 (Sanchez 66, 6), Rashford 5.

BURNLEY (4-4-2):

Heaton 9; Bardsley 7, Tarkowski 7, Mee 7, Taylor 8; Hendrick 6, Cork 9, Westwood 8, McNeil 8 (Gudmundsson 77, 7); Barnes 7; Wood 7.

Referee:

J Moss 6