Second half of 2021 was quite disappointing for Manchester United, but the very end of the year brought merriment to the Red Devils and their fans. A comfortable 3-1 victory over Burnley sees the hosts jump above Tottenham into sixth place in the Premier League and their first half goals against the Clarets maintain the unbeaten record under Ralf Rangnick.It was lively from the get-go – visitors’ main man in attack Chris Wood missed a chance at one end before home team superstar Cristiano Ronaldo missed a chance he ordinarily does not miss. But the hosts did not have to wait long before they took the lead.Scott McTominay picked up a loose ball from Ronaldo and curled a delightful shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box in the ninth minute to set the match in motion.After a hat-trick of postponements, Burnley played their first game in three weeks and were looking off-beat, which the hosts took advantage of. The lead was doubled when Jadon Sancho weaved through the defence and took a shot which was deflected by Ben Mee and ended up behind Wayne Hennessey.Pretty soon after, Ronaldo made it 3-0 – he caught a rebound after another effort McTominay had been superbly saved by the Welsh goalkeeper.In matter of minutes, Burnley responded with a goal of their own, feeding Sean Dyche with some hope that the second half could bring a better scenario for his team. After a lengthy run, Premier League veteran Aaron Lennon found the far corner from the edge of the box when David de Gea should have done better.After the break, the Clarets enjoyed a greater share of the possession but failed to create more opportunities. As the guests were trying to find an opening, McTominay showed United were still hungry for more – the Scot’s terrific long range effort was marvelously saved by Hennessey.Burnley goalie had more work to do – he sensationally denied Edinson Cavani’s close-range effort with his faceThe visitors had a few desperate attempts near the end of the match with Mee and James Tarkowski both trying with headers but none were accurate enough.The ‘Red Devils’ were able to control the game in the closing stages to see out a win that reduces their deficit to fourth-placed Arsenal to four points, while retaining a game in hand. Dyche’s struggling side sunk to a ninth away league game without a win.PREMIER LEAGUE – Round 20TuesdayWatford – West Ham 1-4 (1-2)/Dennis 4 – Soucek 27, Benrahma 29, Noble 58 pen, Vlasic 90+2/Southampton – Tottenham 1-1 (1-1)/Ward-Prowse 25 – Kane 41 pen, /Crystal Palace – Norwich 3-0 (3-0)/Edouard 8 pen, Mateta 38, Schlupp 42/Leicester – Liverpool 1-0 (0-0)/Lookman 59/Arsenal – Wolverhampton Wanderers POSTPONEDLeeds – Aston Villa POSTPONEDWednesdayChelsea – Brighton 1-1 (1-0)/Lukaku 28 – Welbeck 90+1/Brentford – Man.City 0-1 (0-1)/Foden 17/ThursdayEverton – Newcastle POSTPONEDMan.United. – Burnley 3-1 (3-1)/McTominay 8, Mee 27 og, Ronaldo 35 – Lennon 38/***odds are subject to change
