WELL DOUN
Man Utd 1 Burnley 1: Zeki Amdouni scores last-gasp penalty to boost Premier League survival hopes in gripping finale
Stats do not make pretty reading for struggling Red Devils
SO Andre Onana finally got his just desserts… even though it did take eight-and-a-half months to serve them up.
That’s how long it is since an opening day victory over Wolves only guaranteed after the Cameroon keeper escaped when he cleared out Sasa Kalajdzic in the last seconds.
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Well today Onana was at it again, clattering into Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni a split second after Aaron Wan Bissaka had already headed the ball to safety.
Only this time referee John Brooks – unlike that August official Simon Hooper – only needed a brief glimpse at a video replay to point to the spot.
And as if to rub salt into the wound, the Clarets’ Swiss striker picked himself up, dusted himself down, and sent Onana the wrong way from the spot.
A point apiece it was, and however much the United fans gave ref Brooks the bird, they should really have directed their venom at their own team in red. Once again.
They were the ones who blew all the chances they created. They were the ones who failed to see it out when they had the chance. Once again.
And they were the ones who left the back door open so many times that eventually you knew that Burnley would come storming through sooner or later. Once again.
Yes, they could have been out of sight by half-time. Erik ten Hag as ever was all too quick to point out how many opportunities his side had carved.
Not so ready and willing, though, to highlight the number of opportunities they all but gift-wrapped for a side which has spent the entire season stuck in the relegation mire.
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Still, in the eyes of the neutral, at least it stopped Antony from being the match-winning hero, a week after he became the anti-hero of football for his Wembley antics.
Ones which saw him go on a mickey-taking, ear-cupping celebration in front of Coventry’s beaten FA Cup semi-final stars and United’s penalty shoot-out victory.
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A shoot-out, of course, in which the Brazilian didn’t have the nerve to step up to the mark, after a game when his side had blown a 3-0 lead against Championship opponents.
So it wasn’t exactly karma that Antony was all set to get the headlines for hitting the winning goal which kept the faintest of top-six finish flames burning for United.
Although it was certainly heading that way before Amdouni got the chance to restore parity and grab some footballing justice three minutes from time.
Antony’s moment had arrived with ten minutes to go, thanks to a shockingly lethargic pass from the usually oh-so-reliable Sander Berge.
He stroked a nothing ball across his own midfield, after receiving it from keeper Ari Muric, and Antony pounced like a viper.
Berge may actually have slightly touched the United forward as he desperately tried to atone for his error, yet not before Antony had stabbed it into the far corner.
The fact he was stumbling as he shot somehow summed up the season perfectly for Erik ten Hag’s side.
For that is what they have done from day one, really. Staggered, stumbled, stuttered… but very, very rarely shone.
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Only occasionally did they do so here either even though they did have enough chances to put this to bed and then paid the price for not doing so.
But that’s the thing with Ten Hag’s side. They will produce the odd move, the odd flash, which takes your breath away.
And a couple of dozen others which leave you scratching your head in disbelief or shaking it in frustrated amusement at some of the garbage they serve up.
Once again those at Old Trafford were spoilt for choice. Openings aplenty, ‘opeless even more.
Ten Hag may try to turn the spotlight on United’s chances but they count for little if the opposition have even better ones.
True, Alejandro Garnacho volleyed a great opening over the top from close range, Christian Eriksen whipped an effort wide and Casemiro fizzed in a long ranger.
Then Bruno Fernandes, a man who can’t stop scoring at the moment, rattled an upright after a rampaging raid from Harry Maguire.
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Garnacho went close again, Muric made a couple of decent stops and Rasmus Hojlund blew an opening.
But at the other end, Burnley had ones of their own. Even better ones, as well. After only 15 seconds for the first, too, when David Fofana shot straight at Onana.
Wilson Odobert curled another that the keeper tipped over when he could have caught, but did produce a super stop to keep out Lyle Foster’s header.
And the United keeper showed the classy side of his game when he raced out to block Foster after he hared through for a one-on-one.
In the end, though, he paid the price for one punch too many – straight into Amdouni’s face – and it was game over. Well, game drawn at least.
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And the worst thing for United? All told, these looked like two evenly matched sides… that’s the level Ten Hag’s lot are at right now.
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