Burnley v Manchester United – Story of the match

Anthony Martial’s third goal in as many Premier League matches earned second-placed Manchester United a 1-0 victory at Burnley as they kept up the pressure on leaders Manchester City.

After United failed to register a shot on target in the first half, Martial fired the winner in off the crossbar nine minutes into the second half as Jose Mourinho’s side picked up their second win since City’s first top-flight loss of the campaign at Liverpool last Sunday.

It was United’s fourth successive victory to start 2018 while Burnley, who had earned a point at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, slipped to their fourth consecutive loss of the new calendar year.

What they said

Tweet of the match

Star man – James Tarkowski

Burnley did a sound job as a team for most of the contest in keeping United at bay and the impressive Tarkowski certainly played his part in that, as did fellow centre-back Ben Mee.

Moment of the match

Martial’s goal. United had been looking lacklustre – in need of Alexis Sanchez some might say – before Martial produced the kind of quality their performance had been missing, sending a fine strike in off the bar. Romelu Lukaku did well to create the chance, even if there may have been questions over the tangle he had with Mee before providing the assist.

Data point

Martial’s effort here meant that for the first time in his United career he has scored in three successive league matches.

Ratings

Burnley: Nick Pope 6 (out of 10), Phil Bardsley 6, James Tarkowski 7, Ben Mee 7, Charlie Taylor 6, Scott Arfield 6, Jack Cork 6, Jeff Hendrick 6, Steven Defour 6, Johann Berg Gudmundsson 7, Ashley Barnes 6. Subs: Sam Vokes (for Hendrick, 81 mins) 5, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (for Arfield, 81) 5, Nahki Wells (for Barnes, 89) 5.

Manchester United: David De Gea 6, Antonio Valencia 6, Phil Jones 7, Chris Smalling 6, Ashley Young 6, Nemanja Matic 5, Paul Pogba 6, Juan Mata 5, Jesse Lingard 5, Anthony Martial 7, Romelu Lukaku 7. Subs: Marouane Fellaini (for Mata, 72) 6, Marcus Rashford (for Lingard, 80) 6, Ander Herrera (for Martial, 90) 6.

Who’s up next?

Newcastle v Burnley (Premier League, January 31)

Yeovil v Manchester United (FA Cup, January 26)