Manchester United Shocked By English Premier League Upstart Burnley
The English Premier League season is only a couple of weeks old, but newly promoted Burnley has already pulled off what may be the biggest upset of the season in all of European soccer. In their first home game at the top level of English soccer in 33 years Burnley upset reigning league champions Manchester United before 20,000 jubilant fans at their Turf Moor home pitch.
The Clarets were putting good pressure on Man U goaltender Ben Foster early in the game, and Blake made their effort pay at the 18 minute mark when he scored on a near post volley. That was the only score of the game, despite the best efforts of the visitors who seemingly awoke from their slumber at this point and began to put the pressure on the Burnley upstarts.
Still, Burnley would hold the advantage on the big scoreboard at the end of the game thanks to the steady play of their netminder Brian Jensen who withstood the Man U onslaught to preserve the historic victory. Afterwards, Burnley manager Owen Coyle commended Man U general Sir Alex Ferguson with his graciousness in defeat:
“Sir Alex dealt with defeat in the gracious manner I would expect of someone like that. He is the best manager in world football and I still expect Manchester United to be champions.”
Burnley has been the favorite to be relegated back to the Champions League, and they looked like they didnt belong after a 2-0 opening game loss to Stoke City. Coyle addressed the teams naysayers in his postgame comments:
“One or two have already written us off. I am not surprised about that. When you look at the financial side, we will have to produce every week. Outside this club, everybody looked at our first five games and expected we would be on zero points. We were disappointed on Saturday and we needed to be brave this time. Now we have a massive game on Sunday against Everton, although whatever happens we are three points better off than we were at this stage in the Championship last season.”
Sir Alex Ferguson conceded that his team didnt play well, but wasnt about to minimize Burnleys victory:
“It was a bad performance considering the chances and possession we had. Maybe if we had got the penalty just before half time it would have made a difference but in saying that we were too frivolous with the chances we had. It has been a long time out of the top flight for them and you cannot deny them their victory.”
Burnley will host Everton this weekend, while Manchester United will try to get back on the winning track on the road against Wigan at DW Stadium.
Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.
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