Raheem Sterling was an unused substitute in this game, granted a rest after rediscovering his scoring touch with England. As it was Manchester City did not need him against opposition as limited as Burnley.
With Pep Guardiola sending Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden on for cameo appearances in the second half, everyone in blue was happy in the end. The only possible complaint was that City might have won by an even greater margin, such was their total control, though when Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sané added stylish goals in the closing minutes it hardly seemed to matter.
“We could have scored more in the first half but in general it was a good performance,” Guardiola said. “It is normal to take a little time to settle after an international break but by the end everyone was at a high level.”
Too high for the Clarets. Sergio Agüero went into this game with six goals from six games against Burnley, and it took him only 17 minutes to make it seven in seven. He could have scored much earlier than that but the first time Mahrez arrowed in a diagonal cross from the right after four minutes the striker seemed to lose his bearings and put a free header miles wide. That should have been a warning to Burnley, yet the next time it happened Agüero met Mahrez’s cross with his foot and Joe Hart made a point-blank save. Agüero acknowledged his former teammate’s reactions with a friendly pat on the back, though there was to be no respite for the returning goalkeeper. David Silva and Sané traded passes in the penalty area as they waited for an opening to present itself, and when it did Agüero had no trouble in holding off Charlie Taylor to reach Silva’s cross.
City made most headway down the left, where the trickiness of Silva and Sané backed up by Benjamin Mendy breached the Burnley back line with ease. Yet with the visitors rarely crossing the halfway line there was little urgency to the home side’s attacks. Guardiola has often complained his side are not clinical enough when on top, and the City manager was visibly aghast at the end of the first half when Hart kept out Silva’s header and Agüero missed an open goal from the rebound.
All Burnley had to offer before the interval was a Jeff Hendrick shot blocked by John Stones, though their most promising opening came in the first minute following a mistake by Aymeric Laporte. Vincent Kompany managed to snuff out the danger with a dangerously high tackle on Aaron Lennon. Starting a league game for the first time since August, the City captain found himself in the book after 35 seconds and was probably lucky to stay on.
“In the modern game that’s a red,” Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager, said. “He was out of control, Aaron got a cut on his thigh that needed two stitches. But City are a top, top side. I’m not saying we would have won here even if the ref had sent Kompany off and disallowed the second goal because the ball was out of play.”
The bombardment Hart must have been expecting arrived early in the second half with two goals in two minutes. The initial breakthrough came as a result of quick thinking by Silva, who noticed as Jon Moss theatrically denied Sané a penalty after a collision with Jack Cork that the loose ball was not running out of play as quickly as Burnley seemed to be expecting. With the visitors standing still Silva played to the whistle, just about managed to reach the ball in time and crossed for Bernardo Silva to score. Burnley were so stunned they conceded again from the next corner, Ben Mee only managing a half-clearance that allowed Fernandinho to crash a shot through a crowded penalty area.
Evidently convinced the game was safe, Guardiola sent on De Bruyne for the last half hour. This probably looked like unnecessary cruelty to Burnley and their supporters, though in fact it was Foden, a later substitute, who caught the eye. The teenage prospect played the slickest of one-twos with Mahrez to find space down for a cross that Gabriel Jesus headed straight at Hart, then combined with De Bruyne in the move that led to Mahrez’s goal. Sané appeared to have wasted a shooting opportunity by going for one pass too many but Mahrez rescued the situation by gathering the stray ball and producing an exquisite curling shot from just outside the area. When Sané added a fifth at the death from Mendy’s cross Hart was left kicking a goalpost in frustration, though as someone who knows both these clubs well he cannot have been all that surprised.
