Jamie Jackson was at Turf Moor to witness City win their 13th game in a row. His report has landed. Here it is, for your edification - and don’t forget to follow Liverpool-Brighton with Simon Burnton, too. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
FULL TIME: Burnley 0-2 Manchester City
Nothing comes of it, and that’s that. Burnley have done well to keep the score down to a respectable level, having been played off the park by City. A 2-0 loss flatters them. City go three clear of Manchester United with a game in hand. If they win at Anfield on Sunday, they’ll become hot favourites to reclaim their title. They’re pretty strong favourites as it is anyway.
90 min+1: Only just, though. Before it can be taken, the ever-fussy Martin Atkinson chooses to lecture Tarkowski in the high-handed style. A short one’s eventually taken after 55 seconds of that first added minute.
90 min: Sterling cuts in from the left and whistles a shot straight into Pope’s chest. Burnley clear, but City aren’t satisfied, nicking the ball and coming again, Silva winning a corner down the left. It’ll be taken in the first of three added minutes.
88 min: Gudmundsson pearls one goalwards from an ambitious distance. Over it flies. In the dugouts, Dyche seems happy enough with his team’s efforts, clapping some encouragement. They’ve certainly done extremely well to limit City to a couple of goals, given the sheer dominance of the visitors.
87 min: It’s Mumbongo’s turn to go into the book, for a couple of frustrated pecks at the heels of Stones.
85 min: Now Stephens hooks Mahrez’s leg. Just a free kick, but he wants to watch himself here.
83 min: Stephens is booked for clumsily clattering into the back of Mahrez.
81 min: Benson comes on for Westwood.
80 min: City are purring again. Mahrez glides down the right, drifts infield, and finds Silva in the box. Silva can’t sort his feet out, and it’s an uncharacteristic end to the attack.
79 min: After that brief flurry of Burnley activity, normal service is restored and City stroke it around in metronomic fashion. Meanwhile here’s Dave Manby: “What would you do if Jesus came to Liverpool? To which the graffiti artist replied: move Ian St John to outside left.”
77 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Mumbongo comes on for Rodriguez.
75 min: Ederson has had nothing to do, so boredom may explain why, having come out of his box to clear a long pass intended for Vydra, he over-elaborates. Instead of bashing upfield, he chips the ball to the right, then clumsily upends the nearby Pieters. He’s booked.
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73 min: Cork is replaced by Stephens.
71 min: He should have had one, though. Tarkowski clearly clipped Jesus as the pair tussled. For some reason, VAR isn’t interested in this one. What a complete fiasco VAR is. It’s never too late to admit a mistake. We won’t rub it in.
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70 min: City are this close to unlocking Burnley in sensational fashion. A ball whipped in by Mahrez from the right. Gundogan, spinning on the penalty spot, could shoot himself but chest-passes down into the path of Jesus. Everything opened up at once! Tarkowsi flings himself in the road to stop a certain goal. Burnley clear, though Jesus goes over in the tussle, claiming a penalty. He’s not getting one.
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69 min: It’s raining heavily now. A miserable evening to be out chasing shadows.
67 min: Gundogan shoots from distance. Deflected. Corner. Cleared. Burnley are doing extremely well to keep this score down. Meanwhile here’s ecumenical patter expert Richard Hirst: “Pope saves and Jesus scores from the rebound! It beats the old saying seen outside a Liverpool church: Jesus saves ... but Keegan scores from the rebound.”
65 min: Zinchenko comes on for the ever-excellent Cancelo.
64 min: Burnley finally show in attack, and impressively so. Westwood lobs a long pass down the right. Vydra chests down, swivels and pelts a decent volley inches wide and high of the right-hand corner. That’s their first attempt at goal.
63 min: Gundogan drives diagonally right to left, then tees up Sterling just inside the Burnley box. Sterling steps on the ball and a wonderful chance is spurned.
62 min: City stroll on.
60 min: City continue to dominate utterly. What Burnley would give to hear the final whistle now.
58 min: VAR has to stick its effing neb in, though. Out come the rulers, and this beautiful sport edges one more paper cut closer to death. After a minute of faff, what was spotted by the assistant referee is confirmed by some pen-pusher at Stockley Park.
56 min: After a mesmeric series of passes, City walk the ball into the net. Jesus is sprung into the box on the right. He rolls into the centre for Mahrez, who slams home from a couple of yards. But it’s offside.
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54 min: Pope with the heroics again. Mahrez cuts in from the right and curls powerfully towards the top left. Sterling is looking to make sure, racing to head home. Pope extends at full stretch to punch clear. City could quite easily have had three or four goals in this second half already.
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52 min: Another long pass down the inside left, and once more Sterling is free and clear. But Pope has read the danger early, racing from his box to blooter clear. The Burnley keeper has more than made up for his early error; this second half could have turned ugly already were it not for his last-ditch interventions.
50 min: Gundogan picks up a loose ball in the midfield and slips an extraordinary defence-splitting pass down the left. Sterling is miles clear! He enters the box and opens his body, hoping to sidefoot past Pope and into the bottom right. Pope blocks brilliantly, though Sterling should have scored.
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48 min: Gundogan has a rasp from 25 yards. It’s not far from screaming into the top-right corner. Pope would have probably had it covered, though had it been on target he’d have needed to showcase stronger fingers than he did for City’s opener.
46 min: Sterling is immediately on the front foot, jetting down the left before swinging right for Cancelo, who has a belt from the edge of the area. The shot is blocked.
City get the second half underway. It’s an exercise in damage limitation for Burnley, surely. No changes. Incidentally, the half-time score in the other 6pm kick-off sees Leicester lead Fulham 2-0, Justin adding a second just before the whistle. The pressure piling up on the champions to get a result against Brighton later.
Half-time gig. “Dearest Scott, while we are on a musical tip, please allow me to introduce my all-time Musical Genres XI:
Rock ‘n’ Rolliver Kahn
Joel Matip-Hop
Soul Campbell
Psychederek Mountfield
Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson
Ashley Grime
Jazza
Disco
Niko KranjčaR&B
Michael Chopera
Ole Gunnar Sol-Ska.”
Mac Millings, ladies and gentleman. He’s here all week. Try the snakebite.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Burnley 0-2 Manchester City
City have Burnley exactly where they want them. Unless something extremely strange happens in the second half, the leaders will go three clear of Manchester United with a game in hand.
45 min: City continue to swan about, using no more energy than is necessary. There will be one added minute.
43 min: City have got their imperial swagger on again.
41 min: Mahrez brings down a long ball delicately, while racing down the right at top speed. What control. He cuts back for Cancelo, who whistles a shot straight at Pope. For a second, that looked like a third for City.
40 min: Burnley have a chance to get themselves back into the game in short order. Westwood splits the City defence down the middle with one pass. Vydra is clear ... but he sidefoots wide of the left-hand post. Ah, up goes the flag. He’d have been offside anyway.
GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Manchester City (Sterling 38)
City triangulate patiently down the right. Suddenly there’s a little pass rolled down the channel to give Gundogan a yard. He enters the box and whips low and hard through the six-yard box. Sterling’s there to tap in.
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37 min: Tarkowski wriggles out of danger and sprays a pass wide left for McNeil, whose deep cross becomes easy meat for Ederson. Lovely play by the Burnley defender; shame about the end of the move.
35 min: The corner’s worked back up the right wing to Cancelo, who becomes the latest player to whip viciously into the Burnley box. Pope claims this one. City are beginning to re-establish their early dominance.
34 min: Mahrez loops from the right. Pope punches clear under intense pressure from Jesus. City come back again, Rodri floating a pass into the mixer, forcing Pieters to eyebrow out for a corner on the right.
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32 min: Let’s go back to the Eighties. Pope all the way through to Ederson.
30 min: Gundogan sprays right to Mahrez, who lays off to Rodri. He curls with pace towards Silva in the centre. It’s an inch too high. Tarkowski heads clear just before it reaches Jesus. That was a hell of a cross.
29 min: A long pass down the inside-right channel. Suddenly it looks like Vydra is clear of the City back line! But he doesn’t back his pace, and turns tail, all momentum jiggered.
28 min: So having said that, Pope’s forced into action. Sterling swans in from the left and rolls across to Jesus, whose snapshot is deflected high into the air and claimed by the keeper.
26 min: Burnley have worked their way back into this game impressively since that nightmare start. They’ve not forced Ederson into any meaningful action, but then Pope’s had very little to do since his mistake. “Re Lift Off with Dychea: Nick Pope took it a little too literally with his T-Rex arms gaffe on the first goal.” I should have known I could rely on glam rock’s Gary Naylor.
24 min: Leicester City have gone a goal up at Fulham. Iheanacho on 21 minutes. As things stand, Manchester City will go three clear at the top, while Leicester leapfrog Liverpool into third.
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22 min: McNeil drives down the left and digs out a fine cross by the corner flag. It loops towards Rodriguez at the far post. Rodriguez can’t win the header, and there’s nobody about for Burnley to make anything of the second ball. City clear.
21 min: Rodri knocks Cork over, 30 yards out, and it’s a chance for Burnley to load the box at the free kick. City deal with the set piece again, but at least Burnley are spending a bit of time upfield now.
19 min: City deal with the corner easily. Then Stones hoicks it long. Tarkowski miskicks and lets Sterling through! Pope reads the danger and comes out to clear ... but he can’t connect either. It looks like Sterling’s going to round the keeper before rolling into an empty net, but Pope recovers his poise, sticks out a leg, and makes a last-ditch tackle that allows him to bundle clear.
18 min: Lowton creams a pass down the right for Rodriguez, who forces the covering Dias into a mistake, Vydra earning a corner from the loose ball.
16 min: A half-clearance drops to Cancelo, who sends a glorious volley towards the bottom left from distance. It’s blocked well by Mee.
15 min: Still all a bit untidy. Burnley have at least disrupted City’s early smooth rhythm.
13 min: The game goes a little scrappy, which will suit Burnley. Here’s Mat Rayner: “Lift Off with Dychea? I stand and applaud! Thanks for the memories.” This isn’t about the praise, it’s just to show that at least one person got the reference to a show last broadcast in 1974.
11 min: Gudmundsson curls long from the right. Vydra can’t get anything meaningful on the cross, and City clear, but that’s a little better from Burnley. Baby steps.
10 min: Burnley can’t get the ball. Given the recent history between these two clubs, this is looking like a long night for the hosts.
8 min: Cancelo strides down the right and swings in for Jesus. Pope does well to claim just before Jesus meets it with his head. Burnley need to clear their heads and quick.
7 min: Gundogan strokes a diagonal pass down the right for Mahrez, who chests down and tears past Pieters in one smooth movement. He rasps a shot straight at Pope, guarding the near post. The flag goes up for offside, though it looked close, and VAR would surely have had a look, so great save.
5 min: Are you thinking about what happened last night too?
GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Manchester City (Jesus 3)
Sterling beats Lowton with ease down the left. He slips inside for Silva, who sends a rising shot straight at Pope from an angle. Pope parries, but weakly, the ball dropping to Jesus, six yards out. He heads the rebound into the bottom right, and it’s exactly the start Burnley were dreading.
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2 min: Not quite yet. Burnley win it back soon enough, and McNeil sends a ball down the left. Too strong for Vydra. Goal kick.
The knee is taken ... there’s no room for racism, kick it out ... and Burnley get the ball rolling. A long pass forward and a foul. City take up possession. A pattern already set?
Before kick off, the players take a minute to remember Captain Tom. Warm, generous, warm-hearted applause by way of a salute.
Here come the teams! Burnley wear their famous claret, while Manchester City sport their third-choice kit, turning Turf Moor into Paisley Park. The leaders look relaxed. The smile on their faces, it speaks of profound inner peace. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
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Sean Dyche speaks to BT. “Six points from the last three games has been pleasing. They’re good outfits, the teams we’ve just played. This is a different challenge. We take it on with that freedom that comes when you play these sides, no expectation on us, I think everyone will be expecting them to win, and win well. Our job is to not make that happen. It’s not impossible, but improbable. We need them to have a quiet night. If we’re on a good performance level, you never know.” The sort of straight-talking analysis we’ve come to expect from Burnley’s manager. Hey, if you don’t know him by now, you will never, ever, ever know him.
Peter Oh draws inspiration from the free-jazz press-conference stylings of Sean Dyche: “Too bad Burnley striker Chris Wood is out injured. Not only is he a decent player to watch (see the excellent headed goal against Villa recently), he’s also an uncanny Woody Harrelson ‘lookie-likie’, which adds a Hollywood feel to Burnley matches.”
Pep Guardiola talks to BT Sport. “We don’t play every game to make runs. Your focus always has to be the next one. We can play more fluidly, defend set pieces better. We don’t have much time to train between games, but we try to have specific things to do. Everyone will be so important for the next month.”
Lift Off with Dychea. You want up-to-the-minute pop-culture references? We got up-to-the-minute pop-culture references!
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Burnley make two changes to the XI named at Chelsea. Robbie Brady and Chris Wood miss out altogether, both injured, making way for Johann Gudmundsson and Jay Rodriguez.
City make five changes to the starting line-up selected against Sheffield United. Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, John Stones, Joao Cancelo and Rodri come in for Ferran Torres, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fernandinho.
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The teams
Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Rodriguez, Vydra.
Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Bardsley, Long, Nartey, Dunne, Benson, Driscoll-Glennon, Mumbongo.
Manchester City: Ederson, Stones, Dias, Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling.
Subs: Walker, Zinchenko, Steffen, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Foden, Garcia, Gomes.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
Preamble
Manchester City’s last seven results against Burnley: 5-0, 3-0, 5-0, 4-1, 1-0, 5-0, 5-0. Given that Manchester United threw the title gauntlet down in some style last night, battering nine goals past Southampton, the Clarets can be forgiven for being wary ahead of this one, with City presumably preparing some sort of response. The leaders are on a 12-game winning streak in all competitions, while Burnley are coming off the back of insipid defeat at Chelsea. The hosts are priced at 14s for the victory. All signs point to a City victory ... but then nobody expected Burnley to win at Anfield a fortnight ago, and look what happened there. Strange game, football.
Kick off is at 6pm GMT. It’s on!
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