Manchester United secured a first Premier League win of the season after a 97th-minute penalty from captain Bruno Fernandes edged a five-goal thriller at Old Trafford.
Bouncing back from the embarrassment of Carabao Cup elimination at the hands of Grimsby Town in midweek, it was another dominant league performance that almost threatened to not translate into maximum points.
A Josh Cullen own goal in the first half was the lead Ruben Amorim’s team deserved. Lyle Foster equalised for Burnley in the second, before Bryan Mbeumo’s first Premier League goal since his summer transfer, and Jaidon Anthony took the score from 1–0 to 2–2 in the blink of an eye after half-time.
It looked as though United would have to settle for a disappointing draw until a stoppage-time spot-kick was tucked away by Fernandes.
The start to the game mirrored how the Red Devils had performed against Arsenal, plenty of signs of promise and good tempo, but no goals. Mbeumo had two chances in quick succession around 15 minutes in, the first saved by ex-United goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka and the second flying wide of the target.
Shortly after that, referee Sam Barrott awarded Amorim’s side a penalty when Mason Mount got tangled up with Kyle Walker. Initial debate focused on whether the contact was inside or outside the box, but after VAR intervened, Barrott decided it wasn’t even a foul at all.
Any concerns that United would again fail to make dominance count were eased when Cullen accidentally turned the ball into his own net. Mount’s wide free-kick was headed against the bar by Casemiro and cannoned off Cullen over the line, before Dúbravka could claw it out.
United lost Matheus Cunha to injury during the first half, but the positives continued when Mount struck the bar with a flick header and later Amad Diallo forced a top save from Dúbravka. A flurry of home attempts in first half stoppage time, four of which came from substitute Joshua Zirkzee alone, couldn’t add to the lead before the interval.
Two goals in the space of 90 seconds early in the second half saw Burnley equalise and then immediately fall behind again. The Clarets worked the ball out wide for Jacob Bruun Larsen to cross from the right, finding Foster in a surprising amount of space in the box to divert the ball in. But United, guilty of allowing heads to drop too easily last season, bit back. Diogo Dalot provided the delivery from the left flank, with Mbeumo on hand in the middle to sweep it home.
Remarkably, Foster had the ball in the net a second time straight afterwards, only to see it ruled out for a marginal offside. But Burnley were undeterred because Anthony soon did make it 2–2, when the hosts were unable to deal with a long throw-in, twice flicked on, before Loum Tchaouna’s shot was parried by Altay Bayındır—the rebound fell kindly to Anthony, who duly obliged.
Searching for a winner, United struggled to create further chances, with promising moves not coming to anything. That changed in the closing stages, when Benjamin Šeško had his chance to be Old Trafford’s hero, unable to get over the ball when meeting Mbeumo’s sweet cross and heading over, before getting a second headed attempt all wrong after some excellent movement.
The late pressure eventually paid off when Amad had his shirt pulled by Anthony on his way into the box and, after a nervy VAR review, referee Barrott pointed to the spot. Fernandes made no mistake from 12 yards, racking up his 99th United goal in the process.
Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Burnley (3-4-2-1)
Subs not used: André Onana, Ayden Heaven, Harry Maguire, Manuel Ugarte, Patrick Dorgu.
Player of the Match: Bruno Fernandes
Burnley (4-2-3-1): Martin Dúbravka; Kyle Walker, Hjalmar Ekdal, Maxime Estève, Quilindschy Hartman; Lesley Ugochukwu, Josh Cullen (c); Jacob Bruun Larsen, Hannibal Mejbri, Jaidon Anthony; Lyle Foster.
Substitutes: Václav Hladký, Joe Worrall, Lucas Pires, Oliver Sonne, Aaron Ramsey, Josh Laurent, Loum Tchaouna, Marcus Edwards, Zian Flemming.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Burnley: Late Bruno Fernandes Penalty Hands Red Devils 3–2 Win.