Solskjaer escapes first defeat as United comes from two goals down to secure a point

The Red Devils battled back from two goals down to earn a point as the old fighting spirit reared its head once moreDuring his eight games in charge of Manchester United, it seemed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had brought back just about everything that had been missing since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.

But one element of the legendary Scot’s reign which hadn’t been necessary was a good old bout of Fergie Time.

Eight successive wins and not a single minute behind the eight ball had meant a late comeback had never been on the cards, but a dramatic 2-2 draw against Burnley on Tuesday was straight out of the Ferguson playbook.

When Chris Wood put Burnley two up it appeared that Solskjaer’s unbeaten run was over, but United conjured up the mental resilience to salvage a point.

They were the better side in a fairly open first half but just couldn’t seem to trouble Tom Heaton no matter what they tried. While it was hardly the most thrilling of 45 minutes, they at least probed in a fashion rarely seen in the days of Jose Mourinho.

But just when they appeared to be stepping up the momentum at the start of the second half, Andreas Pereira’s moment of madness led them to fall behind for the first time under Solskjaer. The Brazilian tried to be too clever deep in his own half and succeeded only in losing the ball to Jack Cork, who fed Ashley Barnes for a high, stinging drive beyond David de Gea.

Solskjaer needed to make changes – and did. Jesse Lingard and Alexis Sanchez entered the fray in place of Pereira and the leaden-footed Romelu Lukaku.

Yet United just couldn’t find a way through as Burnley dropped in tighter and killed any hope of Solskjaer’s favoured counter-attacking philosophy being the key to opening up the Clarets. Whenever United got the ball forward, there was a congested penalty area staring back at them.

They needed a spark. They needed the old United magic that would always ensure that visiting sides wouldn’t be safe until the final whistle was blown, being run into the ground and passed into submission just in time to save the day. The iron fist in the velvet glove.

It appeared that it wouldn’t arrive when Wood headed home at the far post from an Ashley Westwood cross, but that was simply going to make the comeback all the more dramatic.

They got one goal back with three minutes remaining as Jesse Lingard was dragged back in the box by Jeff Hendrick and Paul Pogba lashed home from the spot.

And that teed up the fantastic finale, as Alexis Sanchez got on the end of Ashley Young’s cross, and after Tom Heaton had kept out the initial effort Victor Lindelof followed in with his first United goal to rescue a point in the 92nd minute.

Such is the feeling around the Theatre of Dreams these days there was an element of disappointment at them not getting all three points, with the players sprinting back after the leveller in a bid to grab a third.

But Solskjaer will be delighted with the way his side battled back in the time honoured tradition of his former boss. Ole really is bringing the good old days back, it would seem.

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