There was an appropriate level of concern within Manchester United that the trip to Burnley represented an acute test in an area of the game in which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have not always excelled this season.



Heading into the match at Turf Moor no Premier League team had won more aerial balls than Burnley’s 482, while United were positioned 17th on that particular list with 298.



Added to that was Burnley’s place at the top of the metric for accuracy from crosses and corners, with 26.9 per cent of deliveries finding their target; given the manner of some of United’s defending in this aspect, staff at Carrington foresaw a difficult night in Lancashire. “It’s going to be horrible,” said one club source.



That it turned out to be one of the more comfortable victories in United’s campaign owes much to Solskjaer’s team largely playing the type of game they wanted, enforcing their will and technique on Sean...