PEEP! PEEP! PEEEEEEEEEP! MANCHESTER UNITED 4-1 BURTON ALBION
Tony Martial, Juan Mata, and Jesse Lingard were simply sensational as were Juan Mata and Ander Herrera; United were simply too good for Nigel Clough's side... although Dyer did make the Brewers the first side to score at Old Trafford this season.
That's all for me, Anirudh Menon... thanks for the company!
91' The corner is a decent and United scramble to clear it but they cant Marphy's ball into the .box befuddles Perreira and Mason thumps a header of the bar, it bounces back out.....
89' Oh Martial. How bloody quick are those feet of his - nothing comes of it but that little shimmy to get rid of three defenders on his tail is the reason why United fans' favourite chant is the one that goes "50 million down the drain, Tony Martial scores again"
87' Flanagan tries to pick out Mason's run but Lindelof intercepts and it's United countering..... Lingard tries to bully his way into the box but four men in yellow converge and bring him down n what can only be called Beckham territory in this grand ol' ground... Martial really, really, wants to take this
86' Mason does superbly to step away from Herrera and he feeds it to Dyer. The pacy winger squares up Darmian and skins him on the outside before slapping a powerful shot just above Perreira's crossbar
84' Dyer has been awfully quiet this half - curiously Burton haven't been finding him enough this half, and their latest attempt to is emphatically prevented by Darmian
79' OOOOO MARTIAL! Lingard plays him in with another lovely ball and Martial races in behind Flanagan before placing a shot just wide of Ripley's far post. The Frenchman has been brilliant tonight
78' Clough is not holding back as he takes off defensive midfielder Akpan for top-scoring striker Lucas Akins. Mourinho responds by taking off Romero and throwing on Joel Perreira
77' Lund steams in behind Shaw as United's switch to back three continues to open spaces down their flanks - but his cut back toward Varney is well intercepted by Lindelof
74' Burton continue to pass the ball around well on the edge of the box and this time Lund comes up with a superb ball that finds Akpan at the far post... he rises high above Lindelof, but the Swede does just about enough to put the Burton man off - and he heads it to row Z
70' Another United counter is stopped - this time by Warnock slamming into McTominay with the most professional of fouls. Easiest Yellow card decision the ref will make in his career.
69' Oh ho. Darmian tests his goalkeeper's footballing skills with a sharp backpass but the Argentine does himself proud with a smart clearance that allows Herrera to start a counter... it ends when Luke Shaw's ball into the box doesn't find it's intended target and it rolls away for a goalkick
68' That corner leads to another that is then worked out frantically by the Burton defence.... United come right back and Martial takes the ball off Herrera - the Spaniard deferring to his on-fire French teammate - and tries to pick out Lingard but Naylor does well to intercept.
67' Another lovely Lingard pass frees up McTominay and the young man races into the box - but Warnock does ever so well to slide in and make sure it's just a corner
65' OH HO HO! Lingard's pulling out all the tricks tonight. Played in by Carrick, he notices the ball is a touch behind him so he pirouettes and backheels the ball to Martial in one smooth motion - and it takes a very alert Naylor to nick the ball off Martial's toes
64' OOOOO! Lingard finds himself in acres of space as he is played into the box by Shaw but his touch to tee himself up is a touch loose and Burton hack the ball clear.
62' AI RASHFORD! He runs into the box, stops with abrupt suddenness - leaving two defenders spread-eagled in their own box - but his finish doesn't match the build up and it's deflected away.
Lovely Lovely goal from United. Martial plays a quick one-two with Rashford (who does ever so well to make sure the second place is right on Martial's path) and this time, one v one with Ripley he makes no mistake. A well deserved goal for the young Frenchman
58' OH MARTIAL! OH MARTIAL! OH MARTIAAAAAAAAAAAL! What quick, lovely, feet this young lad has. He shifts the ball from left to right with lightning quickness and leaves Flanagan about flabbergasted, and stunned... he walks into the box, literally walks into it, and hits a rather weak finish that Ripley does well to save. If he'd finished that, we'd have been talking about that goal for quite some time.
56' Flanagan does well under pressure to walk away from Rashford's charge - and Akpan powers forward before being brought down, illegally, by Lingard. Freekick in another promising position for Burton... but Palmer's ball into the box is rubbish, for once.
54' At the other end a neat United move meets its death at the feet of Jesse Lingard as he over-elaborates with a backheel that Warnock does well to read
53' They do, however, work the ball forward it takes a smart recovery tackle from Luke Shaw to ensure that Lund and Varney don't combine to any great effect inside the United box
52' Murphy does well to shoulder-charge Rashford and win the ball off him and lay it off to Warner - but Herrera closes him down with the tenacity of a terrier and Burton simply can't get away quickly
50' Whatever Clough said seems to have worked - they are playing higher up the pitch and taking the game to United. Another loose Varney header forces Palmer into a half-baked challenge that gives United possession of the ball... if they sort this final-third business quickly enough, they really ought to be fine in the Championship
49' OH NO! LUKE SHAW HAS THE BALL IN THE BACK OF THE NET BUT HE'S CALLED OFFSIDE! Herrera swung the ball toward him and he slipped in behind Lund and passed the ball beyond Ripley and into the far corner - replays show he was most definitely ONSIDE! Poor Shaw!
46' OOO! AKPAN! Burton win an early freekick that he swings into the box where Akpon has stolen a yard on Rashford - he stoops and heads it with power - but it lacks the direction to worry Romero
Jose Mourinho's brain is on the pitch in the in the body of Luke Shaw in place of Juan Mata.... meanwhile Warnock is on for Turner and Murphy is for the impressive Allen. Both teams have lost their chief creative forces, then
Messrs Mata, Herrera, Lingard, Martial and Rashford are running the show at the Theatre of Dreams and it would take one helluva team talk from Nigel Clough and an even better performance from Burton - as impressive as they have been in bits and parts - for them to go home with anything from this match.
46' One minute of stoppage time. Some astute defending from Darmain ensures that Burton don't have even the faintest sniff of a hope going into the break.
43' Varney and Smalling go up in the air for a challenge that ends up with the Burton skippers knee on Smalling's face and boot on his shoulder... somehow from five yards out the ref adjudges it as a Burton freekick.
42' OUCH! Yellow for Akpan as he goes steaming into Lingard with an ugly, reckless, typically English challenge! Thankfully for United, Lingard's leap up meant he caught only a percentage of the mammoth boot that had coming sliding across the Old Trafford pitch at him
40' OOOOO! Lingard races into the box after more lovely work from Herrera and Turner and Lingard collide - the Englishman wants a penalty, the ref asks him to dust off his backside and get on with it
39' This is an example of just what I was saying... Plamer plays in a lovely ball that floats over United's defence and lands at Lund's feet - unmarked and five yards from goal. He, though, looks taken aback that he actually got the ball and shanks a woeful effort into row Z!
38' Darmian gives the ball away rather loosely - he's been the most disappointing United player so far - and Allen runs onto it at the edge of the box from where he smashes it well wide of Romero's goal. Burton are working themselves into interesting positions but they are not doing well enough.
This was all MArtial... a Marseille Roulette and a lazy, quick (i don't know how he makes such a quick move look so lazy, but he just does) nutmeg sets up Lingard who's first-time shot bounces off the unfortunate Flanagan and into the back of the net
35' Burton aren't over-awed, as they shouldn't be, but as the old commentator's cliche goes... all their good work is breaking down when they enter the final third. Another ball aimed at Allen down the left flank bounces over the midfielder and out for a throw
SHARE
Tony Martial, Juan Mata, and Jesse Lingard were simply sensational as were Juan Mata and Ander Herrera; United were simply too good for Nigel Clough's side... although Dyer did make the Brewers the first side to score at Old Trafford this season.
That's all for me, Anirudh Menon... thanks for the company!
Toodle-ooo!