A win, and not too weird
Two magic moments make up for a disjointed display and a makeshift defence
FIVE ASIDES League Cup: United 2, Burnley 0
Well, it was a win. And it wasn’t too weird. This was the kind of game United could easily have lost, even without the five-week break that will surely have some odd side-effects over Christmas. Here it acted like a handicap, bridging the gulf between fifth and 21st in the football pyramid. Burnley were spirited, organised, let down only by their finishing. In terms of attempts, it was 11-10 to Burnley; for shots on target, 6-1 to United. Their performance was understandably fitful, but the good bits were very good.
Their star players were the same as when we last saw them play together. Christian Eriksen, who spent the autumn supplying everything but the goal, made it two in his last two games for United by finishing an immaculate move. Bruno Fernandes set it up with a visionary cross that looked as if it had too much on it until Aaron Wan-Bissaka raced to the byline and extended his right tentacle, normally used to prevent goals rather than create them. The volley-cross he whipped in is going straight into his highlights reel and may well add £5m to the price tag if, as rumoured, he is heading off to Wolves or back to Palace.
And then Marcus Rashford scored a great solo goal. He set off on a high-speed 60-yard slalom and finished with fierce precision. He now has 12 this season – nine for United, three for England. The only problem with this one is that it may encourage Erik Ten Hag to persist with putting him on the right. Alejandro Garnacho is still too junior to be preferred to Rashford on the left and showed it with some uncharacteristically poor touches. He’s just right as a sub. Anthony Martial was fully switched on and played a part in Rashford’s goal with a decoy run: not having Cristiano Ronaldo around should suit him, as long as he can stay fit. Fernandes, like Rashford, just carried on where he had left off – both in the domestic season and the World Cup. He messed up only by getting into a spat with Connor Roberts and picking up a silly booking, in the 90th minute, that will rule him out of the next round. We’re still hoping one of the club’s ambassadors can have a quiet word about the need for the United captain to show some dignity.
Martin Dubravka had a nightmare for five minutes but got away with it. And, to be fair, he was part of a ramshackle back five, with Casemiro thrust into central defence when Scott McTominay might have been a more natural choice (he often plays there for Scotland, and Casemiro’s creativity, while welcome at the back, was missed in midfield). Wan-Bissaka did the same dogged defensive job he used to do for Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer, and then amazed us with that moment of magic.
United were disjointed but effective, Burnley disappointed but impressive. Where Sean Dyche had his old dogs playing old-school football, Vincent Kompany has backed some young pups and got them doing something far more sophisticated. I found myself looking forward to the day when Burnley are back in the Premier League and Kompany is shaking hands in the technical area with Michael Carrick. Unless, that is, Ten Hag is here for the long haul, which seems possible given the steely clarity he showed in winning his battle of wills with Ronaldo.
Tim de Lisle writes about sport for The Guardian and music for The Mail on Sunday. If you’re still on Twitter, do follow him and United Writing.