A bummer. But not terrible.
The Result
Manchester United 1, Burnley 0
How It Happened:
Burnley had chances at the beginning and end, but all of them ended up being misfires. In the middle, Man U put a steady pressure on the Claret goal, and eventually the pressure broke.
What It Means:
Not a whole lot. A loss was the expectation, and with Brighton losing to Man City today, there’s likely no harm done unless Fulham picks up a point or points against Tottenham (and even then, Burnley would still lead the Cottagers). Newcastle lost to Sheffield, further helping the cause as Burnley now has a reasonable-enough chance to catch the Magpies over the next nine days. Bottom line: Burnley’s still in 16th, the gap between them and the relegation world might narrow but will stay at least at two points, and there’s still reason to hope for climbing as high as 15th over the next two matches. Not too bad a scene. And on top of that, it was proven that Burnley can force chances against one of the league’s best teams.
What’s Next:
West Ham on the road this Saturday, following by a trip to Liverpool next Thursday (in scoreboard-watching, Newcastle visits Arsenal on Monday, Brighton goes to Leeds on Saturday, and Fulham hosts Chelsea on Saturday before welcoming Man U themselves on Wednesday).
Other News:
Burnley was fairly healthy. Forget the details, but the general impression is that a Covid outbreak in the dugout seems to have been avoided. Among other forgetfulness-related topics, I forgot to mention yesterday morning that our lads get Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with the match at Fulham. Not the best draw, but should the Clarets move on to the fifth round (the round of 16), we’ll be watching them host either Bournemouth or Crawley Town in February, which for the round of 16 is a great draw.
General Thoughts:
How does one avoid mid-afternoon sleepiness? I know I’ve done it before, but I never remember how.
Burnley Thoughts:
Watched the whole match for once…
*pause for applause*
…and while I don’t know much about soccer, it seemed like Burnley both a) had chances to steal a point or three and b) could’ve lost by more. I know that’s pretty much always true, but I guess my point is that to an entirely uneducated eye, Bertie’s Boys looked competitive. Tough little stretch ahead, but could be—and have been—in such a worse position.
Love the fandom for Burnley. I only started closely following futbol in the past several years and it’s slowly becoming my favorite spectator sport. Check out “Soccernomics” by Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski if you get the chance. Lovely discussions ranging from “game theory and penalty kicks,” “football vs football,” and “why soccer clubs don’t (and shouldn’t make money.” The text is a little outdated, as it was published in 2009, but it still contains a wealth of value for novice futbol fans like myself.
Whoa, cool! Thanks for the tip!