Manchester United climbed to sixth place in the Premier League on Thursday thanks to a 3-1 overs struggle at Burnley at Old Trafford to maintain their unbeaten start under interim manager Ralph Rangnick.
After a poor performance in Monday's 1-1 draw at Newcastle, Rangnik made six changes to his squad with Edinson Cavani opening the attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Burnley had tested four COVID-19 positive before the game, including goalkeeper Nick Pope, while key forward Maxwell Cornett was ruled out with an injury.
The wide-open nature of the game was evident from the start as Chris Wood missed an early opportunity, went wide for the visitor and then Ronaldo wasted a brilliant opportunity, firing over the bar when it was clear on goal.
But United didn't have much time to lead - Mason Greenwood's pass to Ronaldo was mishandled, but Scott McTominay jumped on a loose ball and hit a low drive into the crowded area and the bottom corner .
Luke Shaw then burst into the middle of the Burnley defense but fired his shot into the side netting as United grew in confidence.
Second was not long in coming, after a mix-up in the Burnley defence, Jadon Sancho cut to the left and his low shot took a deflection from Burnley captain Ben Mee's outstretched leg and beat Wayne Hennessy.
United, playing with a 4–4–2 attack, were leaving room for Burnley and looked safe from behind, but their positive attitude paid off when they grabbed the third goal in the 35th minute.
Hennessy pointed a fierce McTominay drive against the post but the ball fell straight to Ronaldo, who guided the ball into the goal without safety.
It felt like the game was over, but Burnley held himself up with a chance, taking advantage of Eric Bailly's poor touch, dribbling into the United box and beating David de Gea from a well, the former Spurs winger. Thanks for a nice solo effort from Aaron Lennon. - Kept angled shot.
Hennessy did well to keep Greenwood and Cavani's efforts away after the break, while Burnley's chances were limited to a header from James Tarkowski's set-piece.
With the win, United moved up to sixth place above Spurs, who are on 31 points with West Ham United in fifth. Burnley remain in 18th place with 11 points.
Rangnik was particularly pleased with his aggressive performance in the first half.
"The performance of the whole team was very good, I was pleased with the performance of my wingers. Jadon did well and Mason did. Cavani and Cristiano, the effort was amazing," he said.
United are four points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand, as they look to break into the top four and a place in next season's Champions League.
"I wouldn't say fourth is the minimum. It's about taking the next development step. Now eight games in a row without a loss. It's about taking the next step," said the German.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche said his team had paid the price for some loose defense.
"The frustrating thing for me is that we could have made two blocks on the side of the box and we didn't," he said.
"I was generally quite happy with the performance, we are a bit stretched with COVID and injuries. There were some good performances but the details are killing us."