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Manchester City have a bravado that their rivals will mistrust. They were three points clear at the top through a 13th straight win with minimal effort against a Burnley team that had no response.
Pep Guardiola’s team also have a game in hand over Manchester United, who are second, and appear to be in control of their destiny despite the absence of their record scorer, Sergio Agüero, and best player, Kevin De Bruyne. .
City will then go to Liverpool for what will be a fascinating clash between the reigning champions and those from the previous two seasons. If they leave Merseyside on Sunday with victory, it could prove a significant blow in this year’s title race.
Guardiola said: “Now is the time to enjoy this and tomorrow we will start thinking about it. They are a contender to be champion, but they are only three points ”.
The coach pointed out how Burnley completes a sequence of victories over similar opponents that also include Brighton, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, West Brom and Sheffield United. “We have won six matches in a row against teams in low positions and we know how difficult it was to win them, we had to do our best,” Guardiola said. “Now we have different teams, who have different types of game: Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham, Manchester United and the Champions League. [restarting]. A difficult group of games, but we enjoyed it [win] eat well and start thinking about Liverpool ”.
Burnley was shaken almost instantly after kickoff. Raheem Sterling received the ball and passed it to Bernardo Silva, who stepped forward and fired. Nick Pope’s parry was weak, and the ball appeared at head level for Gabriel Jesus to nod.
“Sometimes you get caught in two minds as a goalie, whether to stop or not,” Sean Dyche said of Pope’s mistake. “But we could have stopped the ball earlier.”
This was a second goal in two games for Jesús, much to the delight of his coach. “The forwards need goals for their confidence,” Guardiola said. “Gabriel Jesus played very well.”
From here it was a walk around City. However, it was interesting how Guardiola organized his team. João Cancelo, supposedly a defender, was part of a four-man midfield, the Portuguese operating in front and to the right of the containment player, Rodri, with Ilkay Gündogan as central.
The City are masters of possession, capable of going from a relaxed pace to a breathless pace in an instant. A Sterling running after that panicked Pope was an illustration. The goalkeeper ran out and barely cleared his lines. The more measured thing came when Sterling, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri and Rúben Dias hit the ball between them. And when this broke, Cancelo was quick to tackle Jay Rodriguez – here was the epitome of Guardiola’s saying that his players have to “run and run” when they lose possession.
Burnley, surprisingly, hardly made life uncomfortable for City. Sterling was allowed to roam inside the field and touch Jesus in space in the box – his effort diverted Ben Mee which Pope gathered in what was a warning. If this was the closest the visitors had come to doubling the lead, they had Burnley precisely where they wanted to: chasing the ball across the field.
A chip from Rodri towards Mahrez was deflected for a corner, this was worked to Cancelo, and his in-swinger was caught by Pope.
Now City attacked again. Riyad Mahrez sent the ball to Gündogan who had appeared on the right wing. His cross slid across the surface, Pope was helpless, and Sterling’s was a sniff finish. Moments later, Cancelo fired straight at Pope, again from close range, while City continued to function as a superior five-man team whose ambition is to rack up goals by walking the ball.
They started the second half with a fluid play that went from Dias to Ederson to Silva who passed the ball to Sterling. From here, the game changed to Cancelo and his 20-yard shot went to goal but for a block. Gündogan followed this up by firing a shot from a distance a few seconds later – he went wide, but then the same player sent Sterling running towards a lovely ball and the England forward should have scored a second. Instead, he entertained himself and Burnley escaped.
To describe Dyche’s men as calm was an understatement. As the competition passed the hour mark, they still had to register a shot until Matej Vydra controlled his chest and then opened wide, but City continued to put pressure on their opponents. Burnley enjoyed more territory closer to the visiting goal, although this was relative.
The truth is that this was a gallop for those in white shirts. If it seems unlikely that Sunday’s game will be the same, Guardiola gave a sinister note. “We lost simple balls and I am concerned and I spoke to them, we can do much better.”
