37 attempts on goal. 20 corners. One shot that smacked the post. Another that looped off the bar. Manchester United played some absolutely incredibly football at times, but that finishing touch never followed. They did run into an inspired trio of Heaton, Keane, and Mee as they pulled off stunning save/block after stunning save/block. That is as close as any side will go to scoring without actually doing the dirty.
That Ander Herrera sending off was a sucker-punch, and by the looks of it, more than a tad unfair.
Sean Dyche's men deserved the point, though, for their incredible bravery and full-blooded commitment. They might even have nicked it - especially after Herrera got sent off - but they lacked that touch of finishing class that often marks the difference between 3 points and 1.
Jose Mourinho, on the other hand, has an almighty task ahead of him to keep morale up - with the team, the board, and the supporters. It's how he handles this that will define his legacy
We look at the key talking points from the entertaining encounter at Old Trafford
#1. Tom Heaton, Micheal Keane, and Ben Mee have blinders
Tom Heaton made eleven saves today. ELEVEN. Four of those coming against Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The English keeper was in inspired form today as he kept the rampant home side away with a series of saves that included everything from your run-of-the-mill to the outright spectacular (that save from Lingard and the starfish save off Rashford spring to mind). He exuded a calm air of authority and dealt with the aerial bombardment that 20 corners bring with it very well.
The interesting thing is that Heaton ONLY had to make eleven saves tonight. I add the 'only' because of the excellence of the center back pairing in front of him.
Ben Mee and Micheal Keane put in inspired, John Terry-esque performances – alternating between throwing themselves at the ball and timing some excellent tackles to perfection.
Heaton and Keane had a point or two to prove.
Why you ask?
Manchester United had decided that the two Mancunians were both excess for their needs, and had sold them.
Some homecoming, this!
#2. Is this it for the Zlatan Ibrahimovic experiment?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now gone six league games without scoring for the first time since a particularly barren December for Inter Milan... way back in 2007. He had 12 shots on goals – including a one-on-one chance, a header that looped off the bar, and a miss from all of 1 yard out.
The trolls were out in full force – sample Gary Linekar here:
To say that he was awful, however, would be overstating it – he linked up excellently with Paul Pogba especially, and Juan Mata and produced some of the most sublime touches seen tonight.
In the end, though, if you are playing as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1, that man needs to score. And Zlatan looks like he can't score to save his life.
What can United do then? The decline of Wayne Rooney is too sad, and too evident to talk about here (that last minute chance was his chance for redemption, you know it!) and Anthony Martial is out injured – as is James Wilson (remember him?). Common sense would dictate that Marcus Rashford takes his natural place at the head of the line – but would that be piling too much pressure on one so young?
Jose Mourinho has a massive headache on his hands here, no way two ways about it, and for once, Zlatan does not look like the solution.
#3. Sean Dyche's men epitomise the fighting spirit of the Premier League 'minnows'
It's a condescending term, this whole 'minnows' business; but if a being from another planet – like the US of A – were to have seen the 90 minutes that is exactly what they would have called Burnley - minnows.
They came with one thing in mind, and that was to hold on to the draw – and they did so magnificently well. They were brilliantly brave all across the pitch and to a man they ran their socks off. Gudmundsson and Arfield were all over the park – helping out defensively, trying to prompt something further up the field.
Were it not for the pace, and calm tackling of Luke Shaw, Andre Gray may very well have marked his return (after a four-game ban for homophobic social media posts) with a goal! Wouldn't that have been something?
In the end, it was their first point away from their Turf Moor fortress this season – especially valuable after having conceded three goals in each of their last (three) away games!
When push comes to shove at the business end of the 2016/17 season, it is these points and these kinds of results that will keep them floating! If they keep fighting like this it's hard to see them being amongst the relegation contenders.
#4. Time to introduce Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the starting XI
Manchester United weren't poor tonight- far from it! Their 37 shots on goal was their highest since 2003-04, they had 20 corners and the likes of Ibrahimovic, Pogba, Herrera and especially Mata.
The stand-in captain who won them the Manchester derby in mid-week had a superb game – cracking the post once, having an astonishing 100% pass accuracy (50 out of 50!), 100% take-ons, 100% tackles won, creating 7 chances, and having 6 goals on shot himself. It was arguably a mistake to take him off when United did.
It's the Spaniard now that is keeping Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of his favoured no. 10 spot – but despite the long-winded protestations of Mourinho it is probably time to throw the Armenian into the mix – possibly on the wings, either at the expense of Lingard or in Rashford's place after moving the young Mancunian up top.
The Armenian is capable of creating sheer magic – as he proved on numerous occasions with Borussia Dortmund – and Mourinho and his men are in desperate need for some of that. It just may be the time for him to put aside his settling-in worries and make the kind of impact that a similarly late-to-settle-in player had at Arsenal – Robert Pires!
#5. How can referees have less of an adverse impact on football games?
We often go through entire football games without ever realising who the man in the middle was – that's the dream scenario, where it's the football that does all the talking, and being discussed about. Today, unfortunately, was not one of those days. Mark Clattenburg had a horror-show of a game, getting multiple decisions wrong – including what looked like a legitimate penalty claim in the first half (which got Mourinho sent off for his “unsportsmanlike behaviour” - aka incessant and vociferous complaining), another in the second half and a second yellow for Ander Herrera when the Spaniard had clearly slipped off the surface.
We may be sitting on a high horse here – talking as we do with the help of video technology – but why deny that horse to the man in the middle? Get in video replays and slo-mo shots for referees (like they've introduced the hawk-eye goalline technology). Help the men in the middle!
Yes, it will delay the game by a bit, but surely it is worth that rather than a lopsided, and unfair result at the end of the 90 minutes?
This game will be talked about for a while now, and none of it for the right reasons – at least when it comes to the refereeing.
With Mourinho having been sent off, it was upto his trusted aide Rui Faria to field questions on the game, and the referee.
All he had to say?
“I just want to say fantastic work from the ref"
The Kingdom of Sarcasm has a new monarch in town.
