Manchester City 5-1 Burnley: Tough afternoon for the Citizens ends on a highly positive note
It is difficult to give a verdict on Manchester City so far this season, so uncertain, so unpredictable have their results and performances been. Their dominance over Burnley in the recent era continued in emphatic fashion on Saturday, but the 5-1 scoreline told only part of the story of a strange and, at times, scrappy afternoon at the Etihad.
Two own goals from Maxime Esteve hampered Burnley’s efforts, before a late burst from Erling Haaland ensured the result would flatter City and Pep Guardiola’s side would extend their streak to 14 straight victories against the Clarets.
Much of the pre-match chatter centred on Kyle Walker’s first return since leaving City in the summer. But it was his replacement at right-back, Matheus Nunes, who had the better afternoon. The Portuguese midfielder’s volley gave City the lead just past the hour when it seemed like Burnley would leave the Etihad with a highly positive result, before he went ahead to play a central part in the third goal that effectively killed the contest.
City struck first inside the opening quarter when the lively Jeremy Doku beat Walker down the left and forced Martin Dubravka into a save. The rebound then ricocheted off Esteve and trickled over the line under pressure from Phil Foden. It was the French defender’s first unhappy intervention of the afternoon, but not his last.
Burnley responded well after falling behind. They had some good moments before Quilindschy Hartman stretched City on the flank, and his cross was met by Jaidon Anthony, whose deflected strike found the bottom corner to bring the Clarets level with 38 minutes played. It was only the club’s third goal in their last 14 meetings with City.
Scott Parker’s side sniffed an unlikely upset and continued to apply pressure. They came close with Lyle Foster’s acrobatic attempt, and early in the second half Foster saw another effort nick off Nunes and flash just wide.
Then after the half hour Nunes had his moment. Josko Gvardiol’s deep cross was headed back across goal by Haaland, and the right-back, timing his run perfectly, thrashed a volley high into the roof of the net. Four minutes later, Nunes sent in a cross and Oscar Bobb’s scuffed effort was diverted it into his own net by the hapless Esteve.
From there, the game slipped away from Burnley as City began to find some rhythm. They played passes with more conviction and as the game drew to a close Haaland met Doku’s low cross at the near post to convert. Then, deep into stoppage time, he capitalised on a slack defence to slot home his second.
