Manchester City 3, Burnley 1
Birthday boy Julian Alvarez scored twice and Rodri finished off Burnley seconds after half time in a comfortable win for Manchester City.
Ameen Al-Dakhil scored a injury time consolation for Burnley who never looked like troubling City on a night where Erling Haaland made his return from a 2-month injury lay off.
As expected City were in total control and were soon in the lead after Matheus Nunes shrugged off a slow start to dink the ball in the six yard box where Alvarez, who turned 24 today, arrived to nod the ball home from 4 yards out.
Alvarez doubled that lead after 6 minutes later when De Bruyne was fouled 35 yards out by Hjalmar Ekdal.
Everyone expected a ball lofted into the box on the left side but the Belgian slid a perfectly weighted ball down the right side where nobody was and Alvarez was quickly on it with just Trafford to beat leaving the Burnley defenders stranded for his 15th goal of the season.
Pep Guardiola made a point of going back to celebrate with his coaching staff, including Carlos Vicens, who must have identified a defensive weakness at set pieces for Vincent Kompany’s men.
And it was almost 3-0 for City when Jeremy Doku’s cross was cut out by Dara O’Shea before it could reach the Argentine just before half time.
27 seconds after the restart it was game over as Phil Foden cut the ball back to Rodri who stroked home the ball from the edge of the box to make it 3-0.
Burnley wasted a chance to get on the scoresheet soon after this when Zeki Amdouni found himself clean through on goal after a quick interchange but blazed over with only Ederson to beat after a rare defensive error by City left John Stones trailing in his wake.
The biggest cheer of the night came when Erling Haaland started warming up after 55 minutes.
And after 71 minutes the big Norwegian replaced De Bruyne.
There was a flash point as Ederson got involved after Connor Roberts pushed over Stones but by that point City were largely doing a training exercise.
Burnley got a rare goal in injury time as City as Ameen Al-Dakhil scored a goal after David Datro Fofana slipped Josko Gvardiol and cut the ball back to the Burnley forward whose got to it ahead of Ederson.
Embed from Getty ImagesTEAM NEWS – Manchester City 3, Burnley 1
Pep Guardiola made six changes to the side that beat Tottenham on Saturday. Kevin De Bruyne returned to the starting lineup as captain and he was joined by Ederson, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Matheus Nunes, and Jeremy Doku.
Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, and Oscar Bobb got a rest while Erling Haaland returned from two months out and was available from the bench.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 3, Burnley 1
Ederson: 6. Precious little to do aside from a save from Josh Brownhill. Went after Connor Roberts after he pushed John Stones over late in the game. Will be frustrated at conceding a late goal to Ameen Al-Dakhil.
Rico Lewis: 7. Switched positions intelligently with John Stones. Defensively sound but little danger from Burnley.
John Stones: 7. City have missed his pinged cross field balls. He got stuck into the challenge and was in the middle of a late flashpoint when Connor Roberts pushed him over in frustration later.
Nathan Ake: 7. Assured presence at the back. Tangled with Lyle Foster.
Josko Gvardiol: 7. Good chance to get to know his role, spent a lot of time attacking from left back. Good runs from midfield and passes into the box showed signs of things to come. Had a shot from the edge of the box which curled wide. Mistake to let David Datro Fofana get past him to create Burnley’s consolation.
Rodri: 7. His usual big presence in midfield, and scored a typical Rodri goal arriving late to meet a Phil Foden pass to put Burnley to the sword.
Kevin De Bruyne: 8. Popular return for the talismanic midfielder who played an advanced midfield role. Early deflected free kick dropped onto the roof of the net. He saw a chance to score from a free kick and executed a perfect pass for Julian Alvarez to do just that – overtaking Wayne Rooney in the all time Premier League assist charts with his 104th. Not afraid of physical challenges either.
Matheus Nunes: 7. Had a shot blocked, set up the first goal with neat shimmy and lifted pass into the six yard box for the opening goal by Julian Alvarez. Had another dangerous cross into the box which had to be cut out by Ameen Al-Dakhil. Tried a few through balls too.
Phil Foden: 7. Pushed up to the right flank with the return of Kevin De Bruyne, his first teasing cross from the right had James Trafford flapping to catch it. Set up Rodri for his goal and had a couple of shots blocked.
Jeremy Doku: 7. Gave Vitinho plenty to think about down City’s left flank and almost won a penalty off the defender. Crosses into the box were challenging and he ran at other Burnley players too. Also did his share of defending on the occasions when needed as Josko Gvardiol went forward.
Julian Alvarez: 8. First touch let him down a bit at times but he was at hand when the ball came into the box. Scored a great second from a free kick routine when Kevin De Bruyne set him up with a superb free kick. Did his usual defensive shift too.
Erling Haaland (on for Kevin De Bruyne, 71): 6. Gentle run out after a lengthy injury break. Miskicked a difficult chance late on to the amusement of watchers and couldn’t get on to a great ball into the box – his attempted header came back off Dara O’Shea.
Jack Grealish (on for Phil Foden, 76): No time to mark.
Mateo Kovacic (on for Rodri), 87): No time to mark.
Sergio Gomez (on for Julian Alvarez, 87): No time to mark.
GOALS – Manchester City 3, Burnley 1
Man City 1, Burnley 0: 16. Matheus Nunes beat his man and lifted the ball into the six yard box from the touchline and Julian Alvarez was there to nod in the first goal of the night from 4 yards out.
Man City 2, Burnley 0: 22. Kevin De Bruyne’s low free kick pierced the Burnley defence and Julian Alvarez scored his second of the night from 8 yards out.
Man City 3, Burnley 0: 46. Rodri stroked home the ball from the edge of the box after Phil Foden squared the ball to him from the right in a move started by Rico Lewis.
Man City 3, Burnley 1: 90+3. David Datro Fofana got past Josko Gvardiol and cut the ball back to Ameen Al-Dakhil who score a late consolation before Ederson could react.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 3, Burnley 1
Man City: Ederson, Lewis, Stones, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri (Kovacic 87), De Bruyne (C) (Haaland 71), Nunes, Foden (Grealish 76), Doku, Alvarez (Gomez 87)
Man City Subs not used: Ortega, Walker, Dias, Bernardo Silva, Bobb
Bookings: Doku 81 (foul on Anass Zaroury), Ederson 76
Goals: Alvarez 16, 22; Rodri 46
Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho, O’Shea, Ekdal (Massengo 87), Al Dakhil, Gudmundsson, Berge, Brownhill (C), Odobert (Zaroury 76), Foster (Fofana 59), Amdouni (Roberts 59)
Burnley Subs not used: Muric, Cork, Ramsey, Cullen, Larsen, Massengo
Booked: Ekdal 21 (foul on Kevin De Bruyne), Roberts 76 (foul on John Stones)
Goal: Al-Dakhil 90+3
Referee: Sam Barrott