Ruben Amorim called Manchester United deserved winners after Bruno Fernandes’ penalty deep into stoppage time saw them scrape a 3-2 win over Burnley.
In a week that saw them suffer a shock penalty shootout loss to League Two Grimsby in the Carabao Cup, this was a must-win match for United in a week in which Amorim has faced questions over his future.
But they only just got over the line with Fernandes scoring in the seventh minute of time added on.
Josh Cullen’s 27th-minute own goal put them in front but United squandered a series of first-half chances before Lyle Foster levelled 10 minutes into the second half.
It took only seconds for Bryan Mbeumo to restore the lead but they lacked composure and allowed Jaidon Anthony to level again before the late drama.
“It ended well,” Amorim said. “I think we deserved to win the game. I think we created a lot of chances. We should go to the half-time with a bigger advantage.
“And then…every possession near our box, they can score, we are in that moment, so we start always chasing a lot of things. But we deserved and we tried until the last minute to score goals, we had our chances and in the end we deserved to win.”
Burnley’s two equalisers will bring fresh scrutiny to United’s goalkeepers, with Altay Bayindir restored as first choice ahead of Andre Onana for this game.
Foster was afforded freedom to tap home while United failed to deal with a corner before Anthony finally prodded in a shot that struck both Kobbie Mainoo and Bayindir on its way in.
“Guys, they are humans,” Amorim said. “Manchester United, everything is (huge). Everybody talks about the goalkeeper. And you can see, I can change the goalkeeper in the situations that happen. We are in that moment. I think it is hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper in this moment.
“But if you look at the first goal, we can defend it better. We suffered a quite similar goal against Fulham, because we don’t do the full rotation of the team when the ball is on the other side. All these small things have nothing to do with the goalkeeper.
“So, the players are struggling a little bit with all the things around the club. That is normal. So it’s not just the goalkeepers. I think everybody has to improve.”
Scott Parker took encouragement from the way Burnley kept fighting, but was left frustrated by the officials after it took the intervention of VAR to award the decisive spot-kick for a tug by Anthony on Amad Diallo.
In the first half, United had a penalty overturned by VAR Stuart Attwell sent Sam Barrott to the monitor to look again at a tussle between Kyle Walker and Mason Mount.
“It’s the way the game is going,” Parker said. “It’s going to become the most sterile game there is. We’re probably months or a year away from not celebrating goals.
“I stand on the touchline, you score a goal and I feel like there’s a million things go through your mind, a checklist, was it offside? Did he step on his toe two minutes before? We need to get a computer out.”
