United late show rescues draw as Solskjaer’s winning run ends

Burnley’s Phil Bardsley in action with Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez REUTERS/Phil Noble

MANCHESTER, January 31 (Reuters): MANCHESTER UNITED 2 BURNLEY 2

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s winning start as Manchester United’s caretaker manager ended with a 2-2 draw at home to Burnley on Tuesday, but his side avoided defeat in spirited fashion with two late goals.

Goals from Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood had given Burnley a 2-0 lead before a late rally from United with a penalty from Paul Pogba in the 87th minute and a stoppage-time goal from Victor Lindelof saved their blushes.

Solskjaer had won his opening six Premier League games after replacing Jose Mourinho in December and the result means United missed out on a chance to go level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea.

Burnley, who are now unbeaten in five and move up to 15th, went ahead in the 51st minute when Ashley Barnes blasted home after being put through by Jack Cork.

Then came some intense pressure from the home side with Burnley’s former United keeper Tom Heaton in inspired form to keep out a strike from distance by Pogba and a close range effort from Romelu Lukaku.

But having held firm at the back, the Clarets doubled their lead in the 81st minute when Chris Wood headed in a cross from Ashley Westwood at the back post.

United got a foothold in the match when Jesse Lingard was pulled down by Jeff Hendrick and Pogba drove home the penalty.

In the second minute of stoppage time Burnley keeper Tom Heaton parried an Alexis Sanchez header but Lindelof reacted well to fire in the equaliser.

BRILLIANT COMEBACK

“The comeback was brilliant,” said Solskjaer, “The players have been asked about how they would react if they went 1-0 or 2-0 down so I felt the comeback was fantastic.

“We had loads of chances, loads of possession, we didn’t deserve to lose. But we did it to ourselves really,” he added, highlighting a lack of sharpness in the opening stages.

“We fought, that wasn’t the problem. We were just too slow in possession in the first half.

“We disappointed ourselves and we disappointed the crowd today, but the ones who stayed had a typical Old Trafford finish to the game so that was a big plus,” said the Norwegian.

It was hard on Sean Dyche’s Burnley side who have now drawn with United on each of their last three visits to Old Trafford — also suffering a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw last season.

The Burnley manager rejected the suggestion that the draw felt like a loss after the two goal advantage.Slideshow (3 Images)

“Our performances lately have picked up, their will, desire and mentality is growing all the time.

“I don’t know where the five minutes of stoppage-time came from. That’s a bugbear because it gave the crowd a lift. I also think Lindelof is offside when Alexis Sanchez heads it, but like I say the margins are tight,” he said.

“We were resilient, we are getting harder and harder to beat, and we can score goals as well.

“The bravery is coming back to the team. Fantastic credit to the players, a firm draw,” he added.

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