Match report | Burnley v Man Utd | 7 January 2026

From the resulting corner, the Reds did find the net, but Martinez’s celebrations were curbed. The centre-back looked to have fired home his first goal of the season, after Sesko’s shot broke to him at close range, but he was judged to have fouled Kyle Walker before pivoting to power past Dubravka.

Fletcher’s confused expression on the touchline suggested he thought the decision was harsh, but his players had no time to dwell, with Burnley soon to be breaking forward in the other direction. Lucas Pires, on the end of another left-sided attack, drilled his effort across goal and wide.

That chance was an anomaly in the sequence of opportunities, as the end of the first half approached, with United starting to dominate the count. Dubravka was comfortable in collecting a rolled effort from Sesko and a Manuel Ugarte volley was also simple for him to catch, after it had the pace and power taken out of it by a block.

The goalkeeper was made to work harder to preserve his clean sheet moments later, though. Sesko showed his neck muscle to direct a Casemiro cross on target, but Dubravka stretched to tip it over the crossbar, before Ugarte powered another attempt wide of goal.

Only two minutes of injury time were added at the end of the half, but that was long enough a period for United to have another shot cleared off the line, this time a dink from Dorgu that Maxime Esteve stretched to remove from under the bar.