Manchester United vs Burnley; Premier League
Manchester United vs Burnley. Premier League.
Old TraffordAttendance74,257.
Manchester United 3
- J Cullen (27th minute own goal)
- B Mbeumo (57th minute)
- B Fernandes (97th minute pen)
Burnley 2
- L Foster (55th minute)
- J Anthony (66th minute)
Man Utd 3-2 Burnley: Bruno Fernandes scores dramatic 97th-minute winner from penalty spot in 'must-win' fixture
Report and free match highlights from the Premier League match between Man Utd and Burnley; Bruno Fernandes scored from spot in injury-time after Burnley had twice come from behind at nervous Old Trafford; Scott Parker fumes at late VAR intervention
Sunday 31 August 2025 09:06, UK
Bruno Fernandes scored a dramatic, controversial 97th-minute penalty as Manchester United scraped past Burnley 3-2 in a game that Ruben Amorim had called a "must-win".
The United boss declared that "something had to change" after their embarrassing Carabao Cup exit to Grimsby in midweek, but this was more of the same failings that have plagued the Amorim era.
Twice they led, twice they were pegged back by Burnley, but Fernandes stepped up in injury time after VAR spotted a shirt pull on Amad Diallo and dispatched the penalty kick.
- As it happened | Teams | Match stats
- Live Premier League table | Watch PL highlights for free
- Got Sky? Watch PL games LIVE on your phone📱
- Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺
How late VAR drama unfolded
In the 97th minute, referee Sam Barrott awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Burnley penalty area for a foul on Amad, who appeared to have his shirt pulled by Burnley winger Jaidon Anthony after a neat one-two with Fernandes.
Barrott was then told to review the decision by VAR Stuart Atwell. After a three-minute review, Barrott awarded a penalty for a "sustained pulling action" from Anthony on Amad. The shirt pull started outside the penalty area.
Burnley boss Scott Parker was unable to hide his frustration at full-time: "It's the way the game is going. It's going to become the most sterile game there is. We're probably months or a year away from not celebrating goals.
"I stand on the touchline, you score a goal and I feel like there's a million things go through your mind, a checklist, was it offside? Did he step on his toe two minutes before? We need to get a computer out."
United were denied a penalty early on in the game when Kyle Walker appeared to have had a hold of Mason Mount's shirt in the area.
Similar to the later penalty that was awarded, the contact began outside of the area before the pair ended up on the floor in the area.
In this case, Barrott awarded the penalty; however, following a five-minute review and being advised to check the screen, the on-field decision was overturned with a drop-ball awarded to the Clarets.
How Amorim's side secured first win of the season
A Josh Cullen own goal looked to have put United on their way after a fast start but an injury to Matheus Cunha and a hatful of missed chances kept Burnley in the game.
Lyle Foster equalised from a Jacob Bruun Larsen cross but Bryan Mbeumo, who missed the key penalty in the shootout loss at Grimsby, scored just 15 seconds later for his first league goal for his new club.
At 2-1 down, Burnley thought they were level as Foster capped a fine move only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Post-match social media reaction suggested the image shown for the offside was inconclusive. The Premier League Match Centre have since told Sky Sports News that the incorrect graphic was broadcast during the match. However, the correct graphic below used by VAR shows Foster's arm/shoulder is ahead of play and that the Semi-Automated Offside Technology was working and used correctly for the incident.
United were never comfortable though and Anthony scrambled home a second leveller after some timid United defending from a throw-in.
Time looked to be running out for United, and potentially Amorim, but Fernandes made amends for his spot-kick miss at Fulham last weekend by keeping his nerve after VAR spotted the foul on Amad.
Not that Amorim could watch it as he cut a broken figure on the touchline at various points of the match.
His position will remain under scrutiny after this win but United at least head into the international break on the back of their first victory of the season.
Amorim: I was confident Bruno would score
Ruben Amorim speaking to Sky Sports:
"Is it really important? In the future, we are going to find out.
"These three points, I think, if you look at the game, we should solve the game right in the first half and then control the game. But it's never easy.
"We have to try to fight until the last minute, things that we overcomplicate. But for me, the most important thing is that it doesn't matter what happens, we try. During the game, we try in every moment, sometimes playing well, sometimes playing too open, too fast, losing possessions.
"But the effort was there.
"I think if you look at the first half, we have so many chances to score a goal and then that can help us to control the emotions, the game, to involve the fans.
"But we are always doing this and then you have the feeling you can control the game and I think you control it well. But then one throw in, one set-piece in this moment is really hard for us. But I was shaking my head because sometimes things are really easy.
"I don't like to see penalties, but I like to see the image of the fans. But I was just thinking sometimes one moment can change a lot of things.
"But in that moment I just was thinking that it's fair to win this game. I was not expecting Bruno to miss two penalties in a row. So I was really confident."
