Burnley vs Manchester United 12th January 2021

Burnley vs Manchester United 12th January 2021

Paul Pogba’s spectacular volley sends Solskjaer’s United top of the tree with victory at Turf Moor

Burnley were unable to repeat their heroics of last season as they were defeated 1-0 at home to Man United. Paul Pogba scored the only goal to send Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men top of the table for the first time since 2017.

The Clarets started the game with real intent pressing United from the off and Chris Wood had their first attempt on 21 minutes. Wood combined with Ashley Barnes on the edge of the box to fire a shot towards goal which deflected off Eric Bailly and went behind for a corner.

VAR controversy then ensued seven minutes later when Johann Berg Gudmundsson went down as a result of a challenge from Luke Shaw. Referee Kevin Friend waved play on and Bruno Fernandes sent a ball towards the onrushing Edison Cavani.

Ben Mee misjudged the flight of the ball which left Robbie Brady with no option but to bring down Cavani just outside the box. The referee then went over to the VAR monitor to decide whether he should send the Irishman off.

After a five-minute delay Friend reversed Brady’s yellow card, and instead pulled the play back for a freekick to Burnley and yellow carded Shaw for his earlier foul on Gudmundsson.

Both managers would have been happy with this decision with Shaw lucky to escape a red card for the challenge, and without VAR’s intervention, it is highly likely that Brady would have also been sent off.

Harry Maguire thought he had given his side the lead on 36 minutes when he got above Eric Pieters at the back post to head the ball in the net. However, his contact with Pieter’s was deemed to be a foul and the goal was ruled out much to his dismay.

United eventually broke down Burnley’s resistance after the break as Paul Pogba put them in front with 20 minutes to go.

Marcus Rashford teed up Pogba with a cross towards the edge of the box which the Frenchman volleyed towards goal and the ball hit Matt Lowton’s outstretched leg on its way past Nick Pope.

Sean Dyche made use of all three substitutions in the second half by bringing on Mateg Vydra, Jay Rodriguez and Dwight McNeil as The Clarets attempted to rescue a point. Vydra had a chance to level the scores in added time but he couldn’t quite connect with his volley in the box and the game ended 1-0 to United.

The Red Devils head into Sunday’s game with Liverpool looking to extend their lead at the top to 6 points as they bid to win their first Premier League title since 2013.

As for Burnley, they travel to the London Stadium to face David Moyes’s West Ham United who are coming off a win against Stockport in the FA Cup on Monday evening.