Manchester United moved into the top five with a fourth win in six games, beating Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday evening.
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- How the teams lined up
United controlled the first half and went ahead just before the break as Anthony Martial capitalised on Charlie Taylor's error before calmly turning home (44).
Burnley, who didn't register a shot on target until after the hour mark, eventually came into the game, but David de Gea did well to save Phil Bardsley's effort, and Marcus Rashford wrapped it up with a messy finish in stoppage time (90+5) as United claimed their first clean sheet in three-and-a-half months.
The result means United leapfrog Tottenham and are within a point of fourth-placed Chelsea, who go to Arsenal on Super Sunday, while Burnley stay 13th, six points clear of the drop zone.
How United finally shut out opposition
There was confusion before the game with Paul Pogba left out of the squad entirely, despite coming on as a substitute against Watford and Newcastle, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer telling MUTV: "Paul has played in two games now and he's been out for a while, so we didn't feel it was right for him to participate today."
United looked comfortable in the first half; Rashford hit the outside of the post with an effort from 20 yards, before Martial saw a poked shot cleared off the line by Phil Bardsley, but they were ahead just before the break.
After Taylor lost possession deep in his half at the touchline, Andreas Pereira's deft through ball found Martial, and he slotted coolly under Nick Pope.
Burnley improved after the break, but didn't test De Gea until the 72nd minute, as Bardsley's fine first-time effort from 20 yards was tipped wide by the Spaniard.
Martial should have wrapped the game up with seven minutes remaining, put through on goal by Dan James before turning, squaring for Jesse Lingard, and seeing Burnley get numbers back to recover.
But as Pope came forward for a late Burnley corner, United broke out of defence through James, who played Rashford in on goal. He took on the back-tracking Pope, slipped, but just got enough on the ball to see it roll over the line.
United deserved the win, and are finally seeing some consistency after a season of ups and downs, with fourth place now firmly in their sight going into the new year.
What the managers said
Burnley boss Sean Dyche: "Two back-to-back games that have been frustrating really because two mistakes at key times have affected the outcome. But a lot of good things from the performance. [We were] still playing a top side.
"Generally first half we handled it well and then a mistake changes the feel. I thought second half we responded to that really well. I was really pleased with the second-half performance."
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: "We are getting better, we're improving. It's just we've had too many draws early on, and that puts us in the position we are in. We've only lost once each month, which is, if you go a month between every time you lose, that is not too bad for a team that's learning and developing.
"So hopefully we can go maybe two months between defeats soon. But we are learning, I think the win tonight was a big step forward anyway."
Opta stats
- Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League games against Burnley (W6 D4), their only loss coming in their first meeting in August 2009.
- Burnley have won just one of their last 29 Premier League games against "big six" opponents (D6 L22). The Clarets are without a win in their last 10, losing each of the last eight.
- Manchester United have kept an away clean sheet in the Premier League for the first time since February 2019, ending a run of 14 games without a shutout on the road.
What's next?
Burnley now host Aston Villa at 12.30pm on New Year's Day, before hosting Peterborough in the FA Cup third round at 12.31pm on Saturday. Manchester United go to Arsenal on New Year's Day at 8pm, before a trip to Wolves at 5.31pm on Saturday.