Manchester City kept the pressure on Liverpool in the developing Premier League title race with a comfortable win over Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was the first time that City legend Vincent Kompany, having seen his Clarets lose the reverse fixture back in August, had taken a team to his former stomping ground.
But any chance of a shock result was squashed in the first half alone when Julian Alvarez, doing the business in Erling Haaland’s absence from the start – although the Norwegian did make his eagerly awaited return from the bench, scored twice in quick succession inside the opening 22 minutes.
Rodri put the icing on the cake almost immediately after half-time, with Ameen Al Dakhil pulling one back in stoppage to at least tarnish the champions’ clean sheet.
How the game unfolded
The hosts dominated proceedings from the first moments, although it was a slow start from them in terms of chance creation, taking time to feel their way around Burnley and sus out any weakness.
Things finally clicked into gear in the 16th minute as Matheus Nunes was released into space by Phil Foden’s pass. The first attempt at a cross was poor from the Portuguese, but he was fortunate to get a second opportunity and this time found an unmarked Alvarez for a header in the six-yard box.
Jeremy Doku tested James Trafford not long after, with the Burnley goalkeeper able to get away with spilling the ball. But City were quickly two ahead thanks to quick thinking from Kevin De Bruyne, back in top form since returning from injury, sliding the ball into the path of Alvarez to finish.
Burnley could only muster shots wide of the target on occasional forays forward, while Trafford remained busy with a save from Nunes, before Dara O’Shea denied Alvarez a first half hat-trick by intercepting a low cross from Jeremy Doku intended for the waiting Argentine.
City wasted little time after the interval in extending the lead, with De Bruyne and Foden both involved. The latter eventually pulled the ball back to the edge of the area for Rodri to steer in.
A comfortable save from Ederson as Josh Brownhill struck from just outside the box 64 minutes into the game was Burnley’s first shot on target of the night, underlining both City’s stranglehold on the game and a lack of quality from the visitors mired in the relegation zone.
The remainder of the game was mostly a procession, with Haaland desperate to mark his comeback with a goal. The Norwegian was clearly a little rusty, guilty of a comical air-shot at one stage as the click ticked on, and unable to force his way through on another. Overall, the sharpness that City had possessed earlier on seemed to wane and desert them, not that it mattered at 3-0 up.
Burney’s 93rd minute goal from Al Dakhil was consolation and nothing more, but it was nice work from substitute loanee David Datro Fofana to drive into a dangerous position on the right and fire in a cross that his teammate bundled over the line after the ball evaded Ederson’s reach.
GK: Ederson – 6/10 – Mostly a spectator.
CB: John Stones – 6/10 – Comfortable as you like.
CB: Nathan Ake – 6/10 – Had one hairy moment at the back but wasn’t punished for it.
CB: Josko Gvardiol – 6/10 – Able to often get forward, although his shooting radar wasn’t tuned. Too easily beaten on the late goal conceded.
CM: Rico Lewis – 7/10 – Made it difficult for Burnley to get things going by breaking up play.
CM: Rodri – 7/10 – Polished as usual and with a fine goal to boot.
RM: Phil Foden – 8/10 – Helped create the opening goal and then directly assisted the third.
AM: Kevin De Bruyne (c) – 7/10 – Feeling his way back into the swing of things and this was a comfortable way to do it and get an assist.
AM: Matheus Nunes – 6/10 – Frequently involved in attacking play. Faded a bit.
LM: Jeremy Doku – 7/10 – His pace was a good outlet to stretch Burnley in a different way.
ST: Julian Alvarez – 8/10 – Celebrated his 24th birthday with an early brace.
Substitutes
SUB: Erling Haaland (71′ for De Bruyne) – 5/10
SUB: Jack Grealish (77′ for Foden) – 5/10
SUB: Mateo Kovacic (87′ for Rodri) – N/A
SUB: Sergio Gomez (87′ for Alvarez) – N/A
Unused subs: Ortega (GK), Dias, Walker, Silva, Bobb
Manager
Pep Guardiola – 8/10 – Exactly as he would have wanted, with a comfortable score-line allowing him to withdraw De Bruyne and put Haaland on.
GK: James Trafford – 5/10 – Not much joy against his former club.
RB: Vitinho – 5/10 – Had his hands ful with Doku and lacked attacking quality.
CB: Dara O’Shea – 6/10 – A crucial intervention stopped City getting out of sight sooner.
CB: Hjalmar Ekdal – 5/10 – Decent in the air but long ball distribution was lacking.
LB: Ameen Al Dakhil – 6/10 – Struggled to deal with Foden’s smart movement but can be pleased with his goal at least.
RM: Johann Berg Gudmundsson – 5/10 – Hardly able to influence things.
CM: Sander Berge – 6/10 – Held onto the ball really well, just didn’t see much of it.
CM: Josh Brownhill (c) – 6/10 – Had Burnley’s first shot on target after more than an hour and was trying to make other things happen around the edge of the box.
LM: Wilson Odobert – 6/10 – Looked occasionally like he could pose a threat but couldn’t stay consistently involved.
ST: Lyle Foster – 4/10 – Touched the ball ten times with the limited service.
ST: Zeki Amdouni – 5/10 – Might kick himself for missing a glorious chance early in the second half, not that it had any impact on the end result.
Substitutes
SUB: Aaron Ramsey (59′ for Gudmundsson) – 6/10
SUB: David Datro Fofana (59′ for Foster) – 6/10
SUB: Connor Roberts (59′ for Amdouni) – 5/10
SUB: Anass Zaroury (76′ for Odobert) – 5/10
SUB: Han-Noah Massengo (86′ for Ekdal) – N/A
Unused subs: Muric (GK), Cullen, Larsen, Cork
Manager
Vincent Kompany – 5/10 – Was always facing a huge uphill battle. Turned to his bench after the game was over as a contest.
Player of the match – Julian Alvarez (Man City)
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