Man United give early birthday present to Alex Ferguson with routine win over Burnley
Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal. Picture: AP Photo/Rui Vieira
The birthday celebrations for Alex Ferguson were a timely reminder of how far his beloved Manchester United have fallen in the nine years since his retirement but at least he was able to start his ninth decade with them in the top six of the Premier League.
The legendary former manager turns 80 on Friday and Old Trafford unfurled a huge banner before kick-off wishing him a happy birthday, a gesture which had the beaming Scotsman reaching for his phone to take a photograph.
But, as has been painfully obvious for many years now, his club is a shadow of the team that he transformed into the most feared around Europe and such an indomitable force at home.
Indeed, a defeat, or even draw, for United here would have seen them out of the to six at the turn of the calendar year for the first time in 30 years; a painful but key indicator of the continuing decline that has led to the appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager.
And, after his first four games in charge produced a grand total of six goals, Rangnick at least saw his side involved in a far more entertaining first half.
There have been similar, fleeting signs of short-term improvement under the German, but as many sideways steps and, again, the defensive performance and carelessness in possession were concerning.
In short, it was still a performance that raised as many questions as it provided answers, in the wake of that sub-par showing in Monday’s draw at Newcastle.
First, the positives and, despite some wastefulness from Cristiano Ronaldo, United carved out three goals inside the opening 35 minutes through Scott McTominay, Jadon Sancho and the Portuguese star himself.
Ronaldo had actually missed one of the easiest openings of the night, played clean through on the Burnley goal by Luke Shaw only to scoop the ball over from 15 yards after five minutes.
There was also a rare technical error from the legendary star when McTominay opened the scoring three minutes later as he mis-controlled a pass from the by-line by Mason Greenwood.
Attempting to switch the ball onto his left foot, Ronaldo nudged it straight to McTominay who made the most of his good fortune, burying an unstoppable shot past Wayne Hennessey from the edge of the area.
The sense of relief around Old Trafford was tangible - as well it should have been given that Chris Wood had missed a perfect chance to give the visitors the lead after just three minutes, sending an unmarked diving header flying wide.
And Rangnick’s mood improved further after 26 minutes when Luke Shaw played Sancho away down the left and the England winger cut into the area where his shot took a kind deflection off Ben Mee and past the diving Wayne Hennessey.
Ronaldo missed another good chance, his shot blocked by Matt Lowton, before finally finding the net after 35 minutes when McTominay’s excellent strike from the edge of the area struck the Burnley post.
The rebound broke conveniently for Ronaldo who was unmarked six yards out and able to flick the ball into the open Burnley goal.
But if Rangnick thought he could relax and enjoy a half of improvements from his team, he was in for a rude awakening as his defence gifted their struggling opponents a lifeline just three minutes later.
Eric Bailly gave the ball away with a poor piece of control in midfield, gifting the ball to Aaron Lennon who ran at Harry Maguire who backed off and failed to make a decisive challenge. The veteran forward was allowed the space, therefore, to roll an excellent finish past the diving David de Gea and into the far corner.
It was a reminder, if the German coach needed one, of the task he faces in transforming United’s faltering season and turning them into top-four candidates in the second half of the campaign.
He acknowledged as much by making six changes - one of them enforced by the suspension of Bruno Fernandes - to the line-up that earned such widespread criticism for that performance at Newcastle.
And while there was a vast improvement on display against another of the division’s bottom three, the timing and manner of Lennon’s response had added an air of unease to proceedings.
At least Ronaldo maintained his threat soon after the restart, heading wide from an excellent Greenwood delivery while Edinson Cavani set up a shot for Greenwood who drew a fine parry out of Hennessey.
Burnley threatened sporadically, but the excellent McTominay almost scored again, this time from a good 25 yards out, with a precise effort which Hennessey did well to tip over.
De Gea 6; Wan-Bissaka 6, Bailly 5 (Varane 65, 6), Maguire 5, Shaw 7; McTominay 9, Matic 5; Sancho 7, Greenwood 7 (Dalot 80); Cavani 6, Ronaldo 7 (Fred 90).Â
Hennessey 7; Lowton 7, Tarkowski 6, Mee 6, Taylor 6; Gudmundsson 6, Westwood 6, Cork 5 (Stephens 58, 6), McNeil 6 (Pieters 84); Wood 5, Lennon 8 (Vydra 73, 6).Â
J Moss 7.
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