Burnley 0 - 1 United

Another goal for Anthony. Photo: Getty Images

That was a close one....and a pretty poor display from our side. Our attacking play during the first half was dreadful as we barely created anything. Burnley were equally bad. The second half saw Martial score a very good goal and some of our players making a bad decision when in a good position and thus failing to put the game to bed. We didn't create many chances but should have still finished off Burnley on a couple of occasions. Instead of watching on comfortably, I had to suffer five looooong injury time minutes that felt like eternity. 

After yesterday's comments by Mourinho, I was very surprised not to see Luke Shaw start today. He may have played too many games recently though so needed a rest. I cannot say Young did anything wrong. It's great to have two in-form footballers in that position, a position that we thought needed strengthening last summer. We only had a half-chance during the first half and it was created by Ashley Young. 

Our other defenders did ever so well today. Smalling was really good and Jones has been immense lately. A solid display and probably my man of the match. Matic was a bit off and Pogba will definitely have better days. Mata was poor, really really poor. Is he already feeling the pressure of Sanchez's arrival? Maybe. He won't be playing many games from now on and such displays won't do him any good. Lingard was bullied off the ball far too often and I thought Martial was our best forward. Lukaku must've had a very frustrating game, isolated up front, but he did really well to create our only goal. 

We didn't set the world alight, true, but Burnley had only conceded 8 goals in 11 games at home and that stat tells how difficult it is to break them down.

Our next game is on Friday against Yeovil Town. The FA Cup is probably our only realistic chance of winning silverware this season so this is a very important game. It will probably also give us a chance to see Alexis Sanchez. I am very excited by this signing as I believe Sanchez is a world-class footballer who does not shy away from the big stage. We need big game players and in Sanchez I believe we're getting one. Hopefully he will not be another Di Maria or Memphis; both wore the famous number 7 shirt and failed to live up to our expectations. 

Exciting times ahead.