Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Jesse Lingard rallies Man United to Boxing Day draw with Burnley


Jesse Lingard scored twice after coming on at half-time to help Manchester United salvage a 2-2 draw with Burnley at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.


An early Ashley Barnes strike and a superb free kick from Steven Defour had put Burnley two goals to the good, but Lingard scored soon after coming on as a substitute and then found the equaliser in stoppage time to give United a deserved point.

Still, United failed to win for the third straight game in all competitions, and could find themselves 15 points back of Manchester City if the runaway leaders win at Newcastle on Wednesday.

The Boxing Day festivities at Old Trafford were soured in the second minute, after Marcos Rojo was booked for bringing down Jeff Hendrick on the side of the box.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson lobbed in the free kick, and after Romelu Lukaku missed a chance to clear, Barnes gathered the loose ball and shot home from close range.

Burnley nearly doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Scott Arfield redirected Gudmundsson's cross onto the top of the bar.

United began to respond as Juan Mata saw a shot blocked by Ben Mee in the box, and moments later Lukaku came inches from connecting with Ashley Young's cross.

But Burnley found their second in the 36th minute when Young conceded a free kick at the top of the box, and Defour sent his shot into the top corner, out of the reach of David De Gea.

United nearly answered immediately through Marcus Rashford, but Mee was able to clear the ball off the line with goalkeeper Nick Pope beaten.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic then found space, only for Kevin Long to send his shot over the bar with a diving challenge, and soon after Paul Pogba curled a shot inches wide of the post.

But Jose Mourinho was still looking at a two-goal deficit at half-time, and brought on Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Ibrahimovic and Rojo at the break.

Lingard made a quick impact and came very close to getting a goal back in the 51st minute when he got on the end of Young's cross, only for the ball to strike Pope in the face and end up on top of the crossbar.

But two minutes later Lingard would not be denied, using his heel to redirect Young's pass beyond Pope's reach and inside the far post.

United continued their pursuit of an equaliser, with Luke Shaw putting a shot straight at the goalkeeper and Pogba sent a free kick just over the bar.

Burnley had trouble getting the ball out of their own half and conceded corner after corner, and the second goal finally came in stoppage time.

After Burnley failed to clear their lines, Young bundled the ball back into the box, where it came off of Mee directly to Lingard, who lashed home on the half-volley.













Credit: ESPN

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