Burnley, England, February 9 (BNA): Loser Manchester United withdrew from the top four in the English Premier League after their 1-1 draw with bottom club Burnley.
United dominated from the start and the VAR ruled out an early effort for offside before Paul Pogba, in his first league appearance since mid-October, fired his first goal of the season to give the visitors a deserved lead.
Ralph Rangnick’s side should have added their advantage before the break, but Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope kept him in trouble with several great saves, while the hosts made no effort to score in the first half.
United were paid to pay for their extravagance, with Burnley leveling through Jay Rodriguez two minutes into the second half of the match’s first purposeful attack.
The visitors lost their rhythm in the first half after that setback and were unable to find a winner despite a lot of late pressure, as they fell to fifth place in the standings with 39 points from 23 games, one point behind West Ham United in fourth place.
With Newcastle United’s win over Everton on Tuesday, Burnley have fallen further behind in the race to claim relegation and are now 17th place behind Eddie Howe’s side by four points, having played two games fewer.
“We were in control,” United captain Harry Maguire told BT Sport. “We have to win the game with the number of chances we created. We had to score the second goal. We lost two points.
“We wanted to dominate the game but for sure when you come away to Burnley you won’t dominate for 90 minutes. We had to see things better.”
Without veteran top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who started off the bench, United’s interchangeable front three were too tough for Burnley to handle in the first half.
French defender Raphael Varane thought he scored his first goal for United after 12 minutes, but I saw it canceled for offside against Maguire, after a lengthy VAR review.
The away team advanced through Pogba, a sure finish from the edge of the box after good work from Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, as Burnley struggled to adapt.
Opportunities kept coming for United. Another goal was disallowed, this time for a foul by Rashford, before Edinson Cavani scored from a close header, only for Bob to make a spectacular stop.
Then Rashford forced Bob to save another excellent with United pressure, but they could not find a second before the break, and finished the first half after scoring 12 attempts on goal.
Rodriguez picked an opportune moment to score his first league goal of the season, before signing in January, Wout Weghorst nearly turned the game over from distance – his brilliant aerial shot saved by David de Gea past United.
Varane’s back-heeled effort came as close to a United win as he extended his undefeated campaign outside the league to six – only leaders Manchester City unbeaten on the road – but a draw would look like a defeat given the balance. from playing.
“They made it difficult for us and I think getting a point shows the great personality of the players,” Rodriguez said.
“They had one that’s not allowed and you think it might be those nights where you get your chance and take it. We took the match by the side in the second half.”