Burnley 1 Manchester City 4

Manchester City faced Burnley away in the Premier League, needing a win to gain some momentum for the games to come. Having won only once in the previous 5 games, there was much work for City to do.

A couple of tactical changes were made by Pep Guardiola from the team which drew at Newcastle, to try and manage the anticipated physical threat of Burnley. Angelino was deployed at left back, in the hope that the whipped crosses would provide an outlet and Bernardo Silva was preferred to Riyad Mahrez, presumably to assist Kyle Walker.

The game started much as expected, with City probing and pressing for an opening and Burnley chasing second balls and trying to turn over possession for a quick break. The only frustration was City’s propensity to hit high balls and the worrying lack of precision in some of the passing.

City opened the scoring after some lovely work by Kevin De Bruyne who was clattered as he released the ball to David Silva. Gabriel Jesus picked the ball up from Silva and curled a beautiful shot past the keeper. The quality of the finish belied the poor finishing from Jesus in recent games.

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The referee Jon Moss then allowed a series of rough challenges against City players to go unpunished, provoking the ire of the City players and threatening to embolden Burnley’s physical approach. With the derby looming at the weekend, plus an already mounting injury list, losing another player is almost inconceivable.

Bernardo Silva had a good chance to double the lead just before the break, after a quick passing attack, but his shot struck the keeper’s legs. City went into half time hoping that miss would not prove too costly.

Despite controlling so much of the match, at just a single goal to the good, the game still sat on a knife edge. The longer it went on, the less safe the result seemed.

Thankfully within 5 minutes of the restart, City nerves were calmed, allowing for a comfortable match to peter out. Gabriel Jesus scored his second of the game, smashing a rising shot into the roof of the net after an excellent cross broke the Burnley off side trap.

The game was put to bed when Rodrigo thumped home from the edge of the area. The delight on his face, after this comfortable performance was a joy to see.

Guardiola even brought on Phil Foden, Eric Garcia and Riyad Mahrez. It was Mahrez though who added the 4th, to bolster his already impressive statistics for the season. Mahrez ran through with the ball and clipped a lovely shot from outside the area past the hapless Pope in goal.

There was even time for a consolation Burnley goal, after a customary defensive mix up where everyone followed the ball like primary school kids, forgetting their positioning.

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There was a lot to pleased about though with this City performance. Solid control, well taken goals and a welcome return to form for a couple of players. This was Rodrigo’s best game since his return from injury and bodes well for the derby on Saturday, where we hope to see more of the same.