Man Utd close in on top 4; Duc Chinh scores to help U23 Vietnam win in training match

Rashford shines

Two goals, split evenly at the end of each half, thanks to Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, helped Man Utd take all 3 points against Burnley.

As a weak team when facing the top 6 this season, Burnley were mostly concerned with defending against Man Utd's attacks. Sean Dyche's team only kept the net until the 44th minute. Andreas Pereira took full advantage of the mistake of losing the ball on the left wing with a low cross into the penalty area. Martial broke the offside trap, got down to face goalkeeper Nick Pope, before shooting low into the near corner to put the visitors ahead.

In the absence of their regular full-backs, United did not face any serious threat from Burnley, as their main striker Ashley Barnes was starved of the ball. David De Gea only had to save once in the 90 minutes, from Bardsley's erratic shot in the 69th minute. Seven minutes later, Gudmundsson's left-footed free-kick hit the crossbar. Martial also had two chances. Five minutes after the break, he scored against Burnley but was flagged for an earlier foul on Tarkowski. In the 83rd minute, he had his second chance of the match against Nick Pope, but hesitated and let the chance slip away.

Thailand returns a series of injured players to their clubs

Sittichok Paso, Nont Muangngam, Patcharapol Inthi, Chaturaphat Satsatham and Kevin Deeromram have been allowed to return to their clubs by the Thai coaching staff. These five players have been injured since the first day of training (December 26) and are expected to not recover in time for the AFC U23 Championship finals - which will start on January 8, 2020.

"Sittichok has not recovered from his knee injury, and Nont Muangngam has a sore shoulder. The other three players were injured while at the club," coach Nishino shared. "I called each player up to talk and agreed to let them leave the team. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to work together in future tournaments."

Supachok practices with a ball in the gym. Photo: FAT.

Among the five eliminated players, Nont Muangngam is the official goalkeeper of Thailand at the 30th SEA Games. Sitichok is highly regarded in the midfield. Meanwhile, Deeromram is a left-back of Swedish origin. He was called up for the 30th SEA Games, but did not participate due to injury.

Thailand is also at risk of losing striker Suphanat Mueanta, the top scorer for the "War Elephants" at the 30th SEA Games. In recent days, Thailand has focused on restoring players' physical strength and practicing tactics less. The Thai coaching staff also let players practice more in the hotel gym, alternating with outdoor practice sessions. Coach Nishino will finalize the official list for the U23 Asian Cup on December 29.

Duc Chinh scored to help U23 Vietnam win the practice match
On the afternoon of December 28, U23 Vietnam had a friendly match with Binh Duong Club at Thong Nhat Stadium. U23 Vietnam won thanks to the only goal of Ha Duc Chinh. Coach Park made some experiments in personnel and tactics. The confrontation between U23 Vietnam and Binh Duong took place like a normal match. Meanwhile, U23 Vietnam's practice matches in Korea took place in 3 rounds, each round lasting 30 minutes.

Duc Chinh during a training session of U23 Vietnam at Thong Nhat Stadium. Photo: Duy Anh.