Paul Pogba scored the stunning second-half goal that took Manchester United top of the Premier League table, as they won 1-0 at Burnley.
Man Utd will finish a post-Christmas game Weekend top of the Premier League table for the first time since the final weekend of their 2012-13 title-winning campaign under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Clarets suffered their first home defeat since October while United extended their undefeated record away from home to 15 matches and The Red Devils remain the only team to stay unbeaten away from home in the Premier League this season.
Pogba met Marcus Rashford’s cross to send a 71st-minute volley through Nick Pope’s legs and into the net with the aid of a deflection.
Man Utd had the better of the chances, with Anthony Martial firing just over before being denied by Nick Pope, while Harry Maguire had a header ruled out for a foul late in the first half.
Burnley twice came close to equalising late on, with substitute Matej Vydra’s effort deflected wide in the 87th minute and James Tarkowski miskicking a golden chance in added time. The Home team failed to register a goal on target throughout the game.
United held on to move on to 36 points, three points clear of defending champions Liverpool, whom they play on Sunday. Burnley stay 16th with 16 points – five above the bottom three.
Match-Stats :
| Burnley | Manchester United | |
|---|---|---|
| 37.3 | Possession % | 62.7 |
| 0 | Shots on target | 7 |
| 11 | Shots | 13 |
| 506 | Touches | 753 |
| 334 | Passes | 566 |
| 5 | Tackles | 12 |
| 18 | Clearances | 19 |
| 3 | Corners | 4 |
| 3 | Offsides | 2 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 15 | Fouls conceded | 13 |
COMINGUP NEXT
- Burnley will travel to London on 16th Jan to play against West Ham United.
- Manchester United will travel to Anfield to play against defending champions and title rivals Liverpool on 17th Jan.
Post-Match Reactions :
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels his Manchester United team fully deserved to claim all three points from a predictably tough game against Burnley, after moving on majestically from a frustrating, and at times controversial, first half.
“When you get three points in the Premier League, it always makes you smile. It was a hard-fought three points though, it always is up here.”
“We’ve had a knack of getting the result over the line. And even though it could have been more comfortable at the end, because I thought we played really well in the second half and we should have had a second or third goal, still you can see the spirit and how much it means to the boys when we defended that ball at the end. Luke sticks his head in, the ball flies and it’s like pinball in there, and it’s one of those where you breathe a sigh of relief after when it’s over.”
Speaking to MUTV at full-time, Paul said: “We knew it would be difficult, we knew it. Always when you come here, you know it’s going to be a war.
“You need to keep calm and we did this. It was very hard in the first half and then in the second half we came out with the good mentality and we got the goal. We got the result that we wanted.”
Having latched on to Marcus Rashford’s cross to score the winner, Pogba was full of praise for his team-mate’s assist.“It was a great ball and I had the feeling to just go and shoot and it went in,”
he said.
“I volleyed it and it touched someone and went in. Sometimes, that’s the perfect goal, the perfect moment; the perfect pass makes the perfect goal. The shot wasn’t the best but it went in. I’m really happy; I’m really happy with the performance. Everyone kept the focus and we were good defensively. The performance was great.”
Dyche said: “It was a tight game and we are pleased with the fact we made it a tight game against a top side.
“I thought we gave a good account of ourselves. More than that, actually, I thought it was a good performance.
“We’ve been improving as the season goes on. We’ve been growing with our performance levels and the fitness of the side, which will be important to us over the season, and there were some really good individual performances against a top side who are going well.
“We stayed resolute with our shape and the collective mentality was good, so I am pleased with many things and performances are important because if you get those right over a season – and that’s one of my many obsessions – it pays you back.”
