On the day Sergio Aguero rediscovered his shooting boots for Manchester's other lot, United's main man Zlatan Ibrahimovic extended the worst scoring run of his career and ended up looking every one of his 35 years.
The legend of Ibrahimovic was signed to great fanfare to win matches like this. Instead, he and United registered 37 shots on goal but failed to capitalise against a Burnley team who in fairness defended brilliantly.
When Jose Mourinho and his players needed that piece of magic to beat the inspired Tom Heaton in goal, the kind Zlatan dined out on in places like Barcelona, Paris and Milan, it was missing.
United will fervently hope the decline is only temporary as they now stand eight points adrift of co-leaders Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Ibrahimovic's best moment was a trademark overhead kick that was brilliantly saved by Heaton, its power injuring the goalkeeper.
Two other chances inside the box came to nothing. In the final minute, Paul Pogba squeezed a cross to the super Swede. The 13-time league champion fluffed his lines, missed the target and held his head in shame.
For someone of his talent and ego, it was a sad moment.
United will wonder how they allowed Burnley to leave Old Trafford with their first point of the season even though they played the final quarter with only 10 men following the unfortunate dismissal of Ander Herrera.
Certainly, part of it was down to the brilliant former United trainee Heaton who saved from stand-in captain Juan Mata and Ibrahimovic within the first five minutes, and followed up with worldies from Jesse Lingard and Ibrahimovic again.
But there was also a lack of composure and confidence in United's ranks when the chances came. Burnley's Mancunian defenders Michael Keane and Ben Mee were heroic in the heart of their defence but they aren't Carlos Puyol and Fabio Cannavaro, guys who Zlatan has played with and against.
Lingard struck the post and United had three loud penalty appeals waved away, the first for a tug by Jon Flanagan on Matteo Darmian that incensed Mourinho so much he vented at referee Mark Clattenburg in the tunnel at half-time and was sent to the stands for the second 45 minutes.
Rui Faria tried to direct operations in his boss' absence – though assistants were seen running to and from the directors' box with pieces of paper – and afterwards tried to put a brave face on a result that would have seen Louis van Gaal get slaughtered.
'We always believed the goal was going to come. When the best player is their goalkeeper, you feel you will get one goal minimum,' he said.
'The boys will have better days for sure. Happy days. They must keep believing. We kept fighting with 10 men as much as 11.'
United's unfamiliar line-up saw four left backs line up in defence – Darmian, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw.
Most of the time the action was up the other end though, as Burnley survived with minimal possession though Icelandic international Johann Gudmundsson's shot at David de Gea with their best opening.
'Heaton was superb,' confessed their manager Sean Dyche afterwards. Of the Ibrahimovic effort where the goalkeeper made himself large and took the force of the shot before it deflected on to his leg and clear, Dyche joked: 'He's just spread himself, hasn't he.'
'I thought I'd broken my arm,' admitted the goalkeeper.
United plodded through much of the opening 45 minutes. The one decent piece of interplay between Ibrahimovic and Pogba saw the Frenchman's shot blocked by the head of Mee.
Zlatan missed a one-on-one and Lingard's flick header was bound for the top corner until Heaton dived and clawed it away.
Herrera left his studs on Dean Marney's thigh and got a yellow – which was to be significant later on – and after 44 minutes, Mourinho went potty when Darmian ran across Flanagan into the box and went down as the defender put an arm across the Italian's wrist.
Mr Clattenburg, probably correctly, failed to point to the spot as the contact was minimal and initiated outside the box. Mourinho continued his argument down the tunnel at half-time and was officially dismissed.
He tried to take a seat in the front row of the stands in order to be close to the dug-out but was ordered higher up where he sat on the end of a row in the directors' box.
Faria admitted there was communication between them. 'Yes. Normally we define situations according the difficulties of the game. Sometimes a detail is important,' said the United No 2.
'But I don't think (the sending-off) was important to the result of the game.'
Indeed the second half was breathless even without Mourinho being a visible presence pitchside.
Mata's shot from Ibrahimovic's cutback was brilliantly stopped by Heaton from eight yards. Ibrahimovic's shot was blocked by Mee and Mata was then thwarted by Keane, Mr Clattenburg ruling the defender couldn't have got out the way even if it had hit his shoulder.
Darmian had a third penalty shout denied following a meaty challenge by Ashley Barnes and Ibrahimovic's acrobatic take-off didn't work from the full back's cross.
Even Herrera's red card, given when he slipped into Marney and got a second yellow, didn't stop United surging forward though Faria – standing in for Mourinho post-match – could have been impersonating his boss when he sarcastically remarked: 'Fantastic work from the referee.'
Rooney and Marouane Fellaini came on but Burnley's blue wall stayed firm, just.
'You could see there wasn't a lot left in the tank at the end,' said Heaton. Rooney skied the final opportunity from 20 yards and Old Trafford booed Clattenburg's signal that fie minutes of injury time were over.
Mourinho's actions will again prove a distraction from the result, United's third Premier League game without a goal.
But he will have plenty to think about in his lonely hotel room over the next few days. More than match officials, he needs his star No 9 to turn in a decent show.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment