In the away end they sang Darren Fletcher’s name. They sang those of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick too, though, so in terms of a popularity contest among those keen on leading Manchester United until the end of the season, it was hard to call a winner.
What would have helped Fletcher – manager for the night here in Lancashire – was a victory. Nothing strengthens a CV quite like Premier League points and for a while Fletcher will have thought he had three.
Poor early on and behind to an Ayden Heaven own goal, Fletcher’s United had recovered impressively to lead after an hour thanks to two terrifically taken goals from the hitherto hopeless United centre forward Benjamin Sesko.
To win and rejuvenate a big money signing in the space of 90 minutes would have been quite the feat from the Scot.
But in keeping with the pattern of the modern United, it was not to be. Burnley somehow hauled themselves from the canvas to come again and an equaliser from substitute Jaidon Anthony gave Scott Parker’s team a point they just about deserved.
United did their best to prevail at the death. Sesko was denied a hat-trick by a save from Martin Dubravka while substitute Shea Lacey struck the bar with five minutes left. Indeed United ended this game having had 30 shots on goal – a record for any Premier League team this season.
Benjamin Sesko scored twice for Manchester United but they were held at Turf Moor
The rejuvenated striker showed the kind of ability he has failed to demonstrate at the club
Darren Fletcher looked glum at full time after United failed to come away with three points
There was also something familiar about all of this, though, and Fletcher – a smart man with United woven in to the fabric of his being – will have recognised the signs of a team playing without killer instinct and elite know-how. At 2-1 up and with Burnley dead on their feet, a good side would have taken the game away from a team without a win of any sort since October.
But United couldn’t do it. Instead they somehow allowed this game to become a contest again and it ended with more points lost to a team from the nether regions of the table. Burnley now join the likes of Leeds, Wolves, West Ham, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Everton on a list of sides that have found the modern United far too comfortable to play against.
Fletcher had spoken before the game in terms of this being something of a dream come true and he had arrived carrying the air of a man determined to enjoy the experience.
Having ditched Ruben Amorim’s three-man defence – no surprise there – Fletcher had put the returning Bruno Fernandes back in his best position behind Sesko and asked the South American pair Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte to hold the base of the midfield.
With Kobbie Mainoo back on the bench after falling out with Amorim, there was quite a bit of common sense about what Fletcher did but he then stood on the touchline in his black overcoat and watched is team hand Burnley the lead in the 13th minute.
It was hard to blame young defender Heaven as a cross shot from Bashir Humphreys looped up off his boot and in to the far corner of the goal. But the manner in which the Burnley player was able to run off the shoulder of Casemiro will have horrified Fletcher. Up in the directors’ box United football director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada didn’t look hugely impressed either.
For a while thereafter United were pretty ordinary and uninspired. Not enough edge. Not enough intensity. As such Burnley were comfortable with their lead. Only once did the home team threaten to score again in the opening half, Lucas Pires dashing down the left to shoot low across goal and wide just after the half hour. But United were similarly impotent until they woke up to pen Burnley back in the latter stages of the half.
Jaidon Anthony celebrates scoring to make it 2-2 in the second half against United
There had been sporadic threats. Lisandro Martinez had a goal ruled out for a shove on Kyle Walker at a corner while a smart training ground free-kick required a goal line clearance from Humphreys as Matheus Cunha looked to have headed in the equaliser.
It had been a contest for thirty minutes but Burnley grew leggy as the half wore on and the truth is that they were hanging on desperately to their lead as half-time drew close.
United started to move the ball around smartly and on the back of that intelligent football came openings.
Burnley goalkeeper Dubravka saved three times from Sesko – including one cracker from a header – while central defender Maxime Esteve cleared brilliantly from the line as Patrick Dorgu looked to have scored from an angle.
Fletcher’s team actually created five clear chances in the final seven minutes of the half. The game seemed to have shifted inexorably and this feeling only hardened when United finally broke through five minutes into the second half.
Fernandes’ pass between defenders was lovely and Sesko’s right-foot finish – swept across Dubravka – was emphatic. It was a lovely crisp strike and so indeed was his next one that arrived nine minutes later.
Fernandes himself had time to strike the outside of a post in between as Burnley continued to gasp for air. And when Dorgu crossed from the left just after the hour, Sesko moved cleverly into space to side foot a volley across Dubravka and in to the corner with confidence not previously shown during his difficult early months in the Premier League.
It could have been a dream ending but Shea Lacey’s strike late on did not find the net
Fernandes soon departed but his return to the team after injury had been important. United are so much better when their captain plays.
Burnley, it must be said, looked finished. Christmas and New Year is a tough stretch for everyone and that’s particularly the case for clubs with smaller squads. Parker’s team looked out of energy and belief but astonishingly hauled themselves level in the 66th minute with the best goal of the game.
Anthony had received a rather lukewarm reception from the home crowd when entering as a substitute in the 58th minute but things were rather different eight minutes later when he held off Martinez and Luke Shaw just inside the United penalty area to curl a lovely left foot shot into the far corner.
Again, the game changed. Burnley rediscovered some belief and United some doubt. The contest was in the balance again, more open. Sesko continued to look sharp but so, as a unit, did Burnley.
Lacey’s late strike almost produced a fairytale. Fletcher had coached him in the age group teams. But it was not to be. United remain stuck in a cycle of self-harm. Whoever gets the job will find United in one hell of a rut.
