Cristiano Ronaldo was back among the goals as Manchester United returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Burnley on Thursday evening.
Premier League
Result: Manchester United 3-1 Burnley
Date: 30 December 2021
Venue: Old Trafford
Edinson Cavani was handed start after scoring in the draw with Newcastle United, while, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Nemanja Matic and Jadon Sancho were all re-called.
United should have gone ahead on five minutes when Shaw sent Ronaldo through on goal, but the Portuguese superstar blazed over the crossbar with only the Burnley goalkeeper to beat.
The hosts got their reward three minutes later when Ronaldo's touch set up Scott McTominay who sent fine first-time effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The lead was doubled in the 27th minute when Sancho collected a pass from Shaw before cutting inside to slot into the far corner via a slight deflection off Burnley defender Ben Mee.
The United faithful did not have to wait too long for a third goal as Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet with a simple finish after McTominay's initial struck the crossbar on 35 minutes.
Burnley managed to pull a goal back three minutes later when Aaron Ramsey surged into the box before finding the bottom corner with a neat finish.
After a quiet start to the half, United nearly added a fourth goal on 64 minutes when Ronaldo turned provider to pick out McTominay who saw his strike tipped over the bar by Wayne Hennessey.
United dominated possession thereafter but struggled to carve out clear-cut chances for the likes of Ronaldo and Cavani, while Burnley barely offered anything going forward in the latter stages.
In the end, three goals were enough to secure maximum points for United who move up to sixth spot while Burnley remain in 18th spot, two points adrift of safety.
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