Anthony Martial’s fine goalscoring form continued as the French winger struck a 54th-winner to guide Manchester United to a 1-0 win over a gritty Burnley side at Turf Moor on Saturday.
A dour game sparked to life with the Red Devils’ in-form wideman finishing well past Nick Pope with a shot that hit the crossbar before nestling in the net after some good work from Romelu Lukaku.
United had ended 2017 on a poor note, but their 2018 has been anything but so far and Jose Mourinho named an almost unchanged lineup from the one that beat Stoke City 3-0 on Monday night.
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Ashley Young came in at the expense of Luke Shaw at left-back, but despite dominating the possession stats, the Red Devils struggled to break down a resolute Burnley defence.
The last time the sides had faced off, Burnley had raced into a 2-0 lead early on, before Jesse Lingard scored a second-half brace to preserve United’s unbeaten streak against the Clarets.
While United were far more solid at the back this time round, they weren’t exactly breathtaking whenever they had the ball and their best chance of the first-half fell to Young, but the fullback sent his shot just wide of Pope’s post.
The second-half started as the first had ended, with United dominant and it didn’t take long for them to find the opener.
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Lukaku shrugged off a challenge when running towards the right wing before turning to release Martial. Despite having a defender in front of him, Martial opted to shoot and his smart effort sent both marker and Pope the wrong way, as the Burnley players went across goal only to see the ball hit the crossbar and bundle in at the near-post.
Burnley, on a poor run of late, were forced into showing some endeavour but for the most part David de Gea was untested as the Red Devils weathered the storm with only few moments of real discomfort.
In fact, United came closer to doubling their lead than they did to conceding and had it not been for Paul Pogba’s poor decision making in the final-third, United would have sealed the deal.
As it were, Jose Mourinho’s men held on for their 16th league win of the season and their third on the trot, restoring their three-point advantage over Chelsea and momentarily closing to within nine points of leaders Manchester City.
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The Sky Blues take on Newcastle United in the late game on the night and while they are widely expected to register a win, the fact that United aren’t giving up on the league title just yet is a good sign for the Premier League in general.
Saturday’s early kick-off saw Chelsea thrash Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 away, while later Arsenal would thump Crystal Palace 4-1 and Leicester City beat Watford 2-0.
Everton were held to a 1-1 draw by West Bromwich Albion as were West Ham United by Bournemouth while Stoke City began the Paul Lambert era with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
Southampton host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday while the last fixture of Matchday 24 will see Liverpool travel to Swansea City on Monday night.