Manchester United secured a 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday as they closed the gap on their rivals for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Goals from Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney sealed the victory for the visitors, with Jose Mourinho making eight changes to the side that faced Anderlecht in midweek.
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Despite the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has been influential this season, United were able to put their goalscoring troubles aside for the day and ground out a well-earned win with the first of the two goals the pick following a devastating counter-attack.
Martial was excellent throughout and United produced a professional and organised overall performance to see out the win as they showed just the type of grit and determination to pick up a crucial win at a pivotal time of the season with Eric Bailly deserving of a special mention after a solid shift at the back.
Having moved to within a point of rivals Manchester City in fourth place, it sets up Thursday night’s derby wonderfully as the pressure will be on both sides to get the right result and take a huge step towards Champions League qualification.
Despite their injury troubles, United will undoubtedly go into it full of confidence as they stretched their unbeaten run to 23 Premier League games, the fourth-longest streak in a Premier League season.
Burnley player ratings: Heaton 6; Lowton 6, Keane 7, Mee 6, Ward 6; Boyd 5, Barton 6, Hendrick 6, Brady 7; Gray 5, Barnes 5.
Substitutes: Tarkowski 6, Agyei 6, Gudmundsson 6.
Manchester United player ratings: De Gea 6; Young 6, Bailly 8, Blind 5, Darmian 6; Fellaini 7, Herrera 7, Pogba 7, Lingard 6, Martial 8; Rooney 6.
Substitutes: Rashford 6, Mkhitaryan 6, Carrick N/A.