Manchester United strolled to a very important 2-0 win against Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon which keeps their top four hopes in the Premier League alive.

Anthony Martial was the man for United on the day as he scored the opening goal with a beautiful finish after a great counter attack before he set up the second for Wayne Rooney, who just about squeezed the ball into the back of the net via a deflection.

The hosts just couldn't get going at all in the game as they were outplayed by Jose Mourinho's side, who now going into the game against Manchester City on Thursday evening only one point behind them in the league table.

Both managers made changes to their team for the game

As expected, Mourinho made eight changes to his United team for the game after the midweek game with Rooney and Martial the headline changes as they looked to close the gap on the top four.

For Burnley, Sean Dyche made one change to his team with Andre Gray coming back into the team to replace the injured Sam Vokes.

Straight away from the start of the game their was a surprise to see Martial starting up front while Rooney started on the left-hand side, while Marouane Fellaini was tasked with doing a man marking job on Ashley Barnes.

Hosts started well but got caught on the counter attack

The start of the game went as expected with the hosts really getting into the face of the visitors as they usually do at home without creating much.

The visitors though should have took the lead when the ball was played to Rooney in the box but his goalbound shot was deflected into the hands of Tom Heaton when he should have scored.

Mourinho's side though did score midway through the first half and it was a goal a United team of old would have been proud of.

The home side had a free-kick in a promising position but United cleared the ball to Martial, who ran with speed towards the Burnley box before passing to Ander Herrera, who in turn played a sublime pass back to Martial, who made no mistake by putting the ball into the back of the net.

Rooney made it two for United before half-time

After the goal, United started really to dominate the ball and that is how they managed to get a second goal just before half-time.

Paul Pogba won the ball back in a dangerous position for United before playing Martial through on goal but he was denied by Heaton but on the rebound, Rooney managed to squeeze the ball into the back of the net.

The hosts though after going two goals down really started to put pressure on the United goal before half-time and but for a brilliant block Eric Bailly, Gray would have got a goal back for the hosts, who will still believe they can get back into the game but as it is they have it all to do in the second half.

The visitors game management saw the game out without much trouble

The second half was nothing more than a procession for United as they continued to control the game by keeping the ball well and not giving the home side any sniffs at goal.

They could have scored a third before the hour mark when a good passing move ended with Pogba forcing Heaton into a very good save from the edge of the box.

You could see during the game why Burnley have been so good at home this season but they were undone by some clinical finishing by United.

The main reason the home side found it so difficult was due to the fact that Bailly, who was fantastic throughout, made some crucial last ditch challenges to prevent David de Gea from having to do any meaningful work during the game.

Therefore the visitors saw the game out with ease and will now hope that they rest well before the Manchester derby on Thursday while Burnley know that they must get at least one more win this season to prevent themselves from being dragged into the relegation battle.

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