Fernandes Penalty Saves Manchester United in 3-2 Win Over Burnley

The third round of the 2025/26 Premier League season played out across England on Saturday, August 30, and provided some action-packed moments. At Old Trafford, Manchester United pulled off an important 3-2 win over Burnley. Bruno Fernandes gave Manchester United a late win with a stoppage-time penalty. That was much needed after a tumultuous week for United. The club was under tremendous scrutiny, after a 0-1 loss to Arsenal and a 0-2, humiliating exit from the League Cup to fourth-division Grimsby Town. Injuries, including Matheus Cunha, forced manager Rúben Amorim to switch from a 3-4-3 formation to a 4-3-3, which provided young Benjamin Sesko with his first opportunity. He opened the scoring for United as a forward who was not troubled by the media. Burnley's Lyle Foster equalized twice and the 2-2 target was secured, but United's Bruno Fernandes assured a last minute penalty after Kyle Walker fouled Zirkzee. The Burnley side offered enough resistance to be proud of a defeat with tactical discipline, counter-attacks and a few stand out performances from Kyle Walker, Martin Dúbravka and Hannibal Mejbri.

At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bournemouth silenced Tottenham's home supporters by winning their match against Spurs 1-0 with a fifth-minute strike from Evanilson. Bournemouth used 62% of possession while they mustered 19 shots to Tottenham's five. Spurs were unable to add to their tally because Marcos Senesi defended exceptionally well for the Cherries, and this ended Spurs' two-match winning streak. Tottenham struggled with individual or roster rotation, getting very limited minutes from Son Heung-min and Richarlison, and when their substitutes turned in average performances, Spurs were predictable, resulted in Bournemouth dictating the pace of this match. Chelsea contributed to my own ongoing personal misery by beating Fulham 2-0 in a London derby, with Joao Pedro scoring the first goal and Enzo Fernandez slotting a penalty in the second half, with Fulham having their own goal wrongly disallowed through the assistance of VAR. Everton played in front of their home fans and beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2. Loan signing Jack Grealish made his Everton debut in this match and assisted with two of Everton's three goals. Finally, Sunderland, returning to the top flight of English football after an eight-year absence, achieved an impressive 2-1 win over Brentford, with the winner coming in stoppage time. Newcastle United played Leeds United on the television and ended all square (0-0) in this match.

After Round 3, Manchester United settled into 8th place with four points, Burnley held 12th with three points, Bournemouth advanced to 9th with six points, Tottenham dropped to 3rd with six points, and Chelsea remained at the top with seven points, despite some reasonable contention. Managers Rúben Amorim and Thomas Frank will feel the stress of public expectations as they decide on tactics, rotation, and similar near-future thoughts, especially with fixtures like Manchester United v Liverpool, Chelsea v Manchester United, Tottenham v Arsenal, Burnley v Leicester, and Bournemouth at Newcastle fast approaching. The key take home message for me and a feature of Rounds 1-3 was how competitive the league is. The promoted teams specifically are clearly willing to challenge their more established counterparts in the league, thus making 2023/24 a potentially unpredictable season taking shape.