Jose Mourinho has conceded that his Manchester United side suffered for not scoring the second goal in their 1-0 win over Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
In an uneventful first half, Manchester United dominated the ball but lacked the attacking enterprise which could have caused problems to an organised Burnley defence.
An Ashley Young shot from the left and another Anthony Martial attempt was the best they could muster in the first 45 minutes where they failed to hit the target and make Nick Pope work in the Burnley goal.
The home side on the other hand defended well stoutly and looked more enterprising in attack when they tried to get at Manchester United’s defence on the break but they also failed to create any clear cut chances.
Other than a couple of feeble attempts which were hit at straight at David de Gea in Manchester United’s goal, Burnley also never looked like taking the lead at Turf Moor in the opening 45 minutes.
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The second half started as the second ended with both teams struggling to create clear cut chances but a swift counter attack from Manchester United in the first ten minutes after the break led to Anthony Martial putting the away side in the lead with a fine finish after some good work from Romelu Lukaku to set up the chance.
Johann Gudmundsson came close to equalising immediately when his free kick from outside the box, hit the crossbar of Manchester United’s goal with De Gea scrambling.
Burnley had a real go after conceding and harried the Manchester United defence but again lacked the killer touch in attack to break the away side’s backline.
Manchester United had ample opportunities to get the second goal but some casual decision making in the final third saw them wasting chances to kill the game off.
And towards the final few minutes the home side launched a few good balls inside the penalty box, but they struggled to find the finishing touches and Manchester United held their ground to wrestle away three points from Turf Moor.
The Manchester United manager admits that since his side wasted opportunities to kill off the game with a second goal, it allowed Burnley to have a sniff towards the end.
Mourinho was quoted as saying by the BBC: "If you don't score you are in trouble, they go direct, they are consistent in their approach it is really difficult.
"We defended very well, and it is fair to say Mike Dean and his team were very good.
"There was a lot of first ball, second ball and the physicality.”
The Red Devils boss believes there was no doubt about Martial’s talent and it was always about him getting some consistency into his game.
"Of course we are happy with him, we just want consistency, we know he has the talent."
The Frenchman has netted eleven goals in all competitions this season and has grown into a key player for Mourinho this season.
