This was a cracking game of football, the scoreline was just about right, but the score itself doesn't even begin to tell the full story. The Clarets may have been second best, but against Man Utd that's no disgrace, is it? Ultimately, the difference in class was emphasised by the forward line.
It was great to see the ground full, and the atmosphere was electric. Credit also to the opposition, who didn't take the game lightly either on the pitch or off it. The Cricket Field was just about full, and they sang some loud songs.
Burnley started very brightly, with Robbie prompting down the left and putting in low crosses which Taylor got to, but couldn't get on target. United were content to let us have the ball in areas where we would do little damage. We played some fine flowing football, but in the final third we just didn't have a cutting edge. That's not a criticism - many a team have come unstuck against this opposition.
After failing to score with his feet on two occasions, our next chance again fell to Taylor, this time with his head. Unfortunately it was too near to Carroll, and he was able to tip it over. United's first chance didn't arrive until just after the quarter-hour mark, when Chadwick did well down the right, and crossed to van Nistelrooy. Marlon had anticipated it, though, and came out to smother the ball as the Dutchman pulled back the trigger.
Things were pretty even until about 10 minutes before half time, and if anything we played the better football without creating any clear-cut chances. Then, disaster struck: John O'Shea, playing in midfield, put Forlan through, and he kept his cool to place the ball past the advancing Beresford. A good finish, and definitely NOT offside - Fred West played him on. So we were up against it now, and when the fourth official signalled 1 minute of injury time, I noticed United turn up their game a gear, almost as if they thought we might mentally relax with half time approaching. It would have been unjust to go in 2 down at the interval; fortunately we didn't.
We couldn't quite keep the momentum going in the second half, but we gave it a damn good try. I didn't think we played as well, but I suppose you only play as well as the opposition let you. The best chances fell to United, and youngster Pugh was guilty of missing three with Marlon seemingly invincible, stopping everything thrown at him. Well, almost, because in the 66th minute he was beaten by Solskjaer (who had come on as a half time sub for van Nistelrooy). It's worth mentioning here that Davis had kept van Nistelrooy very quiet, and had given him short change all evening. Back to the decisive second goal: Chadwick got some luck as he went between Weller and Branch before pulling the ball back to Solskjaer. David Eyres is the hardest hitter of a ball that I have seen - now it's Solskjaer. Someone remarked that if Marlon had got his hand to it he wouldn't have been playing on Saturday.
Well, we didn't go for damage limitation, we kept attacking, and United were content to hit us on the break, particularly down the right where Fred had gone AWOL. Bad misses and fine saves kept the score to 2-0, but it's fair to say we never troubled Carroll again.
We expected to lose, but we certainly played our part in a game which was a fantastic advert for football. Every neutral I've spoken to who watched it on TV says they enjoyed it. So we can be proud of the performance, and the pay day.
West S Davis Gnohere Branch
Little Weller Cook Briscoe
Attendance: 22,034.
Scorers: (Manchester United) Forlan 35, Solskjaer 65.
Referee: N S Barry (Scunthorpe).
Becko's Man of the Match: Beresford.
(This is) What we call progress