Burnley 0 Manchester City 2
Manchester City currently have a swagger about them which their rivals will be wary of. They pulled three points clear via a 13th consecutive victory achieved with minimal effort against a Burnley side who had no answer.
Pep Guardiola’s side also have a game in hand over Manchester United, who are second, and appear in prime control of their destiny despite the absence of record goalscorer, Sergio Aguero, and finest player, Kevin De Bruyne. They are at Liverpool next for what will be a fascinating clash between the current champions and those of the two previous seasons. If City leave Merseyside on Sunday with victory it may prove a significant blow in this year’s title race.
Following the weekend loss at Chelsea, Sean Dyche drafted in Johann Gudmundsson and Jay Rodriguez for Robbie Brady and Chris Wood. Guardiola’s five changes from the win over Sheffield United were John Stones, Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez, Rodri and Raheem Sterling, as Phil Foden, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kyle Walker, Ferran Torres and Fernandinho dropped out.
Burnley were rocked almost instantly following kick-off. Sterling was found and relayed the ball to Bernardo Silva, the Portuguese advanced and shot. Nick Pope’s parry was weak, as it popped up at head height and there was a lurking Gabriel Jesus to nod home.
From here it was all a stroll for City. And as they had recorded four 5-0 wins over their hosts since October 2018 a question was posed: might this prove yet another duck-shoot for Guardiola’s men? Of interest, too, was how the Catalan arranged his team.
Cancelo, supposedly a defender, was part of a four-man midfield, the Portuguese operating ahead and to the right of the holder, Rodri, with Ilkay Gundogan the central playmaker.
City are masters of possession, able to go from relaxed to breathless pace in an instant. One Sterling run in behind that panicked Pope was an illustration. The keeper rushed out and barely cleared his lines. The more measured stuff came when Sterling, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, and Ruben Dias knocked the ball between them. And when this broke down Cancelo rushed over to tackle Jay Rodriguez: here was the embodiment of Guardiola’s dictum that his players have to “run and run” when losing possession.
Burnley - surprisingly - hardly made life awkward for City. Sterling could wander infield and tap to Jesus in space in the area: his effort became a deflection off Ben Mee that Pope gathered in what was a warning.
If this was as close as the visitors had come to doubling the lead they had the Clarets precisely where they wished: chasing the ball around the pitch. A Rodri chip towards Mahrez was diverted for a corner, this was worked to Cancelo, and his in-swinger was clutched by Pope.
Now, City struck again. Mahrez pinged the ball to Gundogan who had materialised in a right-wing position. The German’s cross zipped over the surface, Pope was helpless, and Sterling’s was a sniffer’s finish.
Moments later Cancelo hit straight at Pope - again from close-range - as City continued to operate like a superior five-a-side team whose ambition is to accumulate goals by walking the ball in.
They began the second half with a flowing move that went from Dias to Ederson to Silva who moved the ball to Sterling. From here play switched to Cancelo and his 20-yard potshot was goal-bound but for a block. Gundogan followed this up by unloading from distance a few seconds later: this went wide but then the same player sent Sterling racing on to a delightful ball and the No 7 should have scored a second. Instead he dallied and Burnley escaped.
Describing Dyche’s men as becalmed was an understatement. As the contest passed the hour mark they had yet to enjoy a single shot until Matej Vydra chest-controlled then blasted wide but City continued to squeeze their opponents. Burnley enjoyed more territory closer to the visitors’ goal but this was relative. The truth is this was a canter for those in white shirts. It seems unlikely Sunday’s game will be the same. – Guardian
