Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Manchester United were branded childish by Jose Mourinho on Saturday evening after a failure to beat Leicester at the King Power Stadium. Harry Maguire’s late goal meant it was two points dropped and with that any slim hopes of winning the Premier League this season would have all but evaporated once and for all.
Mourinho will be hoping that his side grows up in time for the visit of Sean Dyche’s Burnley side who were soundly beaten by Tottenham last Saturday after Harry Kane scored a magnificent hat-trick at Turf Moor. However there can few complaints as they currently find themselves 7th in the Premier League going into today’s fixture.
Jose Mourinho will have had plenty of complaints though as United failed to put Leicester to the sword last Saturday night, after being caught by a blistering counter attack goal from Jamie Vardy they then turned the game around thanks to a brace from Juan Mata.
And with the Red Devils also having a numerical supremacy on the pitch after Daniel Amartey’s second half sending off you got the feeling that the game was going to fizzle out to the point where all three points would go to the away side.
Jesse Lingard hit a post when it was almost easier to score especially with the form he has been in as of late while Marcus Rashford had ample time on his hands when placed in a one on one situation with Kasper Schmeichel only to then be caught in two minds as the ball rolled out for a corner.
Still though with Leicester only having 10 men on the pitch you felt that it was as good as game over, they were however given something of a Christmas mircale when Chris Smalling was injured late on with United having already made all three subs.
Although the England international may well have stayed on the pitch he may well not have bothered as he was rendered almost immobile after coming back on the pitch late on and as the ball floated over his head Harry Maguire was on hand to stab home to snatch a dramatic draw.
Undoubted frustration for United and they will look to bounce back against a Burnley side who were soundly beaten by a resurgent Tottenham just a couple of hours before events at the King Power and although the scoreline was only 3-0 in Spurs’ favour it could have and should have been more.
Harry Kane may have been on red hot form but the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Hueng min-Son were not, they spurned guilt edged opportunities but at the same time the Clarets could do little to punish Tottenham for their relative profligacy in front of goal.
The fact that they were soundly beaten without James Tarkowski in the starting lineup is obviously no coincidence, Kevin Long deputised in his absence and it is fair to say he had a game to forget after not only being given the run around by the Tottenham attack but also giving away the penalty that laid to the first goal of the game.
Long was adjudged by referee Michael Oliver to have fouled Dele Alli in the box just minutes after the England midfielder was booked for a pretty robust tackle of his own, one that Burnley fans felt he should have been shown a Red Card for.
With Alli staying on the pitch he then became the pantomime villain of the piece with a cacophony of boos every time he touched the ball. Truth be told for all the complaints that both the fans and Burnley boss Sean Dyche had it did little to break the stride of the former MK Dons player.
Burnley were soundly beaten and they will have to hope that they are not in for another long afternoon against a United side who will be licking their wounds after disappointment of their own. Last season the two teams draw 0-0 at Old Trafford with Tom Heaton turning in a wonder performance.
However I’m not sure Burnley will have the same fortune as they will still face the same defensive issue as they did a few days ago what with James Tarkowski now sitting out the second game in a three match ban. I think United will have too much in their locker and it should be a routine home win.
