Questions are being asked all around Old Trafford during Manchester United’s latest struggles. Saturday’s insane nil-nil home draw with Burnley wasn’t a disaster, yet it will only ramp up the tension surrounding Jose Mourinho and Co.
In the less-than-stellar post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford, Manchester United have certainly had worse performances in front of home fans, but you’d have to really think hard to come up with a weirder game than Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Burnley.
October hasn’t been a kind month to United, as it’s included a home draw to Stoke City and an embarrassing loss at Chelsea in addition to semi-meaningless wins over Fenerbahce and Manchester City in the Europa League and EFL Cup, respectively.
Ten minutes into Saturday’s match with Burnley, however, United looked primed to right the ship. Heavy possession and good chances by Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic seemed to indicate that the Red Devils would run all over Burnley in a 3-0 or 4-0 victory, but Clarets keeper (and former United player) Tom Heaton had other ideas.
Heaton made 11 saves, most of which came on shots by Mata, Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba. The highlight reel stop came in the 60th minute when he stopped a screaming Ibrahimovic volley with his midsection, likely damaging vital organs in the process.
It’s worth noting that United fired 37 total shots and hit the post twice in the 66th minute alone. About half of those misses came off the foot of Ibrahimovic, who started the game by getting in good positions but lacked killer instinct in the first half.
In the second half, the big Swede continued to see chances, but his lack of killer instinct morphed into a complete lack of confidence, most notably on a missed tap-in near the far post in the final minutes. With this his sixth straight club game without a goal, Ibrahimovic is in the midst of his longest scoring drought since 2007.
But perhaps the strangest moment in the game did not happen on the field, but rather, in the stands. Following the first half, referee Mark Clattenburg put Jose Mourinho into a timeout for the rest of the game.
After Mourinho’s shout for a penalty late in the first half became a bit too exaggerated for Clattenburg’s taste, the Special One watched the second half from a comfortable box seat in the stands. He did, however continue to coach the team by having an assistant run down handwritten notes to the bench. Hand signals were also used at one point.
Other fun moments in the match for United included a Wayne Rooney substitute appearance (remember him?), a Memphis Depay cameo (seriously, remember him?) and productive midfielder Ander Herrera getting sent off when he slipped into a Burnley player to earn a second yellow card.
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On the Burnely side, it wasn’t just the Heaton show. Center backs Michael Keane and Ben Mee were almost as great with a respective 12 and seven clearances to help see the Clarets to a hard-fought point.
Clattenburg, a noted Ed Sheehan fan, has made a habit of refereeing wild EPL matches like this. Though he sent off Herrera, he was conservative with the whistle. Not only did he deny a pair of Matteo Darmian penalty appeals, but he also failed to show red to Burnley’s Jon Flanagan after the player ran away from him following a clear handball.
Burnley hosts Manchester United on April 22. If there’s any grace left in the world, Clattenburg will be there.