Man Utd draw to Burnley: Five things we learned as Cristiano Ronaldo risk fails to pay off

Burnley vs Man United: Match in pictures

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Manchester United were made to pay for their missed chances in the first half as Burnley came from a goal down to earn a point at Turf Moor. The Premier League’s bottom side went 1-0 down when Paul Pogba rifled into the top corner, but after having two goals ruled out, United were stung by Jay Rodriguez’s dink straight after the break. After dominating the first half, United stumbled in the second to drop two valuable points in the race for fourth place. Express Sport takes you through five things we learned from the match.

More controversy

United fans are not enjoying the video assistant referee recently.

After being on the receiving end of a controversial decision against Middlesbrough on Friday, the officials once again conspired against Rangnick’s side at Turf Moor.

Duncan Watmore’s handball that wasn’t in the build-up to Matt Crooks’ equaliser at Old Trafford was bad enough.

But it was backed up with another contentious call on Tuesday night, with what would have been Raphael Varane’s first goal for the club chalked off.

This time the controversy centred around Harry Maguire, whose block on Rodriguez was picked up by VAR and led to Mike Dean ruling it out for offside.

Minutes later and another goal was cancelled, with Josh Brownhill spared blushes by an apparent foul by Pogba on Erik Pieters.

The decisions turned out to be very costly for United, who wilted after the break in the Burnley rain.

Pogba makes an impact

Pogba made a low-key return from injury against Middlesbrough on Friday and might not have started at Turf Moor, had it not been for Fred’s positive Covid test.

But United will be happy to have the Frenchman back, because he made an immediate impact against Burnley.

It was his header which got the ball rolling and, after good play from Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, it was Pogba who was there to fire the opening goal into the roof of the net after 18 minutes.

Pogba started the season with seven assists in seven Premier League games, but remarkably had not scored in the league since January 2021.

After three months out with a thigh injury he’s back, at least until his contract expires in July. On a forgettable night for United, they at least had one positive to point to.

Weghorst offers sign of light

Wout Weghorst cost Burnley around £12million and was signed to replace Chris Wood after he left for relegation rivals Newcastle in a £25m deal.

After a quiet first half, in which the giant striker and his team failed to have a single shot on goal, he came to life after the break.

It was his piece of skill which bamboozled Maguire and played Rodriguez in on goal and he nearly got his first Premier League goal minutes later.

David de Gea had to be at his very best to palm away the Dutch striker’s dipping long-range strike.

Burnley may still be bottom of the Premier League. They still have won only once all season. But their new striker offers a glimpse of hope.

Maguire struggles

It was Maguire’s block on Rodriguez which cancelled out Varane’s impressive header early on and it was another block on the Burnley striker which highlighted the £80m man’s poor game.

The United captain was sucked into the ball and, with Rodriguez charging into space behind the defence, he opted to bring him down.

The distance from goal meant he was only shown a yellow card, but the incident showed his struggles against the physical Burnley strike partnership.

Maguire’s efforts in defending the Rodriguez goal was even more hapless, allowing Weghorst past him to provide the assist and the goal scorer in one-on-one with De Gea.

There was more of the same to come, with his stooping header in the middle of the pitch setting up a Burnley four-on-three chance which they could not take.

It was a poor performance from Maguire – someone Rangnick really needs to be able to rely on.

Ronaldo gamble backfires

Rangnick made a brave call in dropping Cristiano Ronaldo for Edinson Cavani. It did not work.

“Today will require a lot of sprinting, chasing balls and a lot of fight for second balls,” he said pre-match.

“I decided to start with Edi because he has the kind of profile that suits what we want.”

Cavani was very quiet and by the time Ronaldo replaced him in the 68th minute, all their momentum had petered out.

Ronaldo headed a few late chances over the bar but that was pretty much it. It’s unlikely he will have taken the decision to bench him well, either.

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