Manchester City hosted Burnley at the Etihad Stadium this Saturday for the Premier League. Guardiola side was looking for keeping their first place and they knew that a victory against Burnley at home was mandatory if they wanted to make sure they would finish this round of the League off sitting at the top of the table.
This match also marked the returning of two players to the Etihad. For the Citizens, Kevin De Bruyne was returned with 30 minutes to go, after the Belgium International had suffered a knee ligament injury in August and passed through a hard time during his recovery. And for the Burnley side, Joe Hart got to be back in action at the Stadium where he consolidated his professional career. However, his former teammates did not show mercy on him.
As at the 17th minute, the English goalkeeper was already taking the ball out of the back of the net as David Silva picked Sergio Aguero up, who fired home past Hart. 1-0 City.
The Citizens’ first goal was a massive blow for Burnley, who could barely threat City’s keeper. The home side was imposing such a dominance that they looked like a great team, full of history and passion of their supporters. Or not.
Well, at least the part of the dominance is true. The second goal came in at the 54th minute. And it was a controversial one. Leroy Sane dove inside the box and the referee seemed to have whistled, and it made the whole Burnley defenders stop. But David Silva kept the ball alive – although it was out of play – and passed it to the other Silva, the Portuguese Bernardo, who was alone in front of the net, to fire home. 2-0 City.
Only two minutes after the second goal, the Brazilian Fernandinho scored the third in a powerful side-footed effort, with no chances to Hart.
At the 83rd, Algerian Riyad Mahrez made it four through a curled ball from 25 yards and Sane wrapped the game up at the stoppage time. 5-0 Manchester City.
The Citizens and Guardiola put in a show over Burnley and they are ready to turn their attention to the UEFA Champions League as they will travel to Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk as Burnley will play against Chelsea next Sunday, for the Premier League.