Manchester United 2-2 Burnley: Pogba and Lindelöf score late to salvage dramatic draw

Manchester United scored two late goals to salvage a dramatic 2-2 draw in their Premier League clash with Burnley on Tuesday. The Clarets had mixed stubborn defending with ruthless attacking to take a two-goal lead into the final 10 minutes at Old Trafford, but goals from Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelöf salvaged an unlikely point to preserve Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s unbeaten record.

United made a bright start, with Marcus Rashford twice going close in the first few minutes. While Burnley defender Charlie Taylor made an excellent block to repel the forward’s half-volley in the first chance, he should have done much better with the second. Romelu Lukaku sent him clean through on goal after some fine hold-up play, but Rashford could only prod wide from point-blank range.

From then on, the first half was characterised by United huffing and puffing but failing to break a stubborn Burnley defence down. Pogba momentarily thought he’d given the hosts the lead when he poked a loose ball home from the edge of the six-yard box, though the assistant flagged for a clear offside. Juan Mata tried his luck from distance shortly before the break, though his low shot squirmed wide.

At the other end, David de Gea had very little to do, though that would’ve been different had Phil Jones not scrambled to nick the ball from Ashley Barnes after a quarter-of-an-hour. Burnley were largely passive on the ball, but their structure without it meant for a frustrating opening half for Solskjær’s men.

By the time Burnley broke the deadlock five minutes after the restart, both sides had each only registered two shots on target. The Clarets’ opener was, unsurprisingly, less the product of brilliant attacking than a catastrophic defensive error, coming as United midfielder Andreas Pereira was caught deep in midfield by Jack Cork. The former Swansea man quickly offloaded to Barnes, whose simple finish sent Sean Dyche’s men into a surprise lead.

Pereira swiftly made way for Jesse Lingard as Solskjær reshuffled the pack. Lukaku’s final involvement was flicking an Ashley Young cross goalwards; he was denied by a brilliant reaction stop from Tom Heaton before Alexis Sánchez took his place. Burnley’s goal had brought United alive, but the visitors held firm in the face of renewed pressure.

There remained the feeling that there was a goal left in the game, but few would’ve expected that goal to be Burnley’s. With 10 minutes to go, however, they delivered a second sucker-punch, as Chris Wood leapt to head Ashley Westwood’s cross beyond de Gea.

It looked for a moment like the game was over, but a foul in the penalty area by Jeff Hendrick allowed Pogba to step up and score from the spot: United were back in it with five minutes remaining.

United laid siege to the Burnley goal, and in the second minute of stoppage time, they completed a dramatic comeback. A teasing cross from Young was nodded goalwards by Sánchez, with Heaton only able to palm the rebound into the path of Victor Lindelöf. The Swedish centre-half made no mistake with the tap-in, salvaging Solskjær’s unbeaten start with his very first United goal.

There was something of the good old days in the air at Old Trafford as the Stretford End excitably urged the Reds on for a winner. In the end, they were made to settle for just a point, but one that feels like much more than that. It wasn’t a stellar performance, but the feel-good factor is still alive for now.