Jose Mourinho appeared to dedicate Manchester United's win over Burnley to Ed Woodward after fans protested against the executive vice-chairman before the match.
United bounced back from defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham with a deserved 2-0 victory at Turf Moor, Romelu Lukaku scoring both goals for the visitors.
A group of fans paid for a plane to fly over the ground bearing a banner that read 'Ed Woodward A Specialist In Failure' before kick-off, while the visiting fans showed their support for the under-fire Mourinho by chanting his name for much of the contest.
The plane protest underlined the fact that a number of fans are siding with the manager following a tense transfer window in which several Mourinho targets were said to have been vetoed by Woodward,
"I am not looking to the sky unless I am asking the guy for help!" he told a news conference. "I didn't see planes but Ed Woodward won 2-0 this afternoon."
Hear from your Man of the Match, , after his match-winning display against Burnley September 2, 2018
United deserved to win what proved to be an eventful game on Sunday, with Paul Pogba missing a penalty and Marcus Rashford earning a straight red card in the space of two second-half minutes.
Burnley battled for a way back into the match but could not avoid a third straight league defeat, which came at the end of a week when they knocked out of the Europa League play-offs by Olympiacos.
"Disappointment is quickly thought about in the same process as the reality," manager Sean Dyche reflected to BBC Sport. "Manchester United are a very good side. They started hard and fast with the ball and defended strong.
"Sometimes there is balance to the disappointment. We got about them; the goal on half-time is a sickener for us. I thought Lukaku was excellent. It's a strange one because we come out of a useful period for experience but a tough period."
