Manchester United's top-four pursuit in the Premier League suffered a knock after a 3-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Cristiano Ronaldo was given the captain armband by United, who showed one change in Marcus Rashford for Bruno Fernandes following their win over Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League.
The Clarets stunned the Red Devils when a low pass in space on seven minutes from Jacob Ramsey set Leon Bailey through on the left and the latter made no mistake with a stern finish.
Villa maintained dominance and made it two after four minutes where a free-kick from an acute angle outside the area by Lucas Digne nestled over and into the near corner of the net.
United were on the back-foot for a duration of the half, but came alive and forced two strong saves of Emiliano Martinez through a shot by Alejandro Garnacho and a diving header by Ronaldo.
The Red Devils pulled one back on the brink of halftime when a first-time shot outside the box by Luke Shaw deflected off Ramsey and flew into the far corner of the net.
Villa regained the two-goal cushion five minutes in the second half after an unmarked Ramsey attacked a loose ball in the heart of the area and drilled into the top corner.
The Clarets enjoyed the lion share of play thereafter, and urged United to introduce a triple change around the closing quarter in Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Elanga and Anthony Martial.
United started to see a lot of the ball in the offensive third before full-time, but were unable to breakdown the Clarets and saw Unai Emery make a winning start for the host.
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