by Pep Guardiola was up from his seat the moment the ball hit the net and hurtled up the steps to the seats behind Manchester City where Carlos Vicens was sitting among his other backroom staff.
Burnley had just conceded a free-kick straight from the training ground on the way to another ugly defeat at the Etihad Stadium and Guardiola was eager to publicly praise his set-piece specialist.
Vicens looked a little embarrassed as the City manager flew around his neck. He will know that it is much easier to pull off such intelligence when players like Kevin De Bruyne and Julián Alvarez are there to execute his instructions but an architect is still needed to do these things and he should he would be proud of his hand in a great piece of fountain. -theatre practiced.
It’s safe to assume that Burnley were expecting De Bruyne to clip an aerial ball and the City midfielder, a master of disguise, was certainly more than happy to give the opposition that impression, raising his hand to and which he sought to convey. over at the scrum of bodies ahead.
Of course, De Bruyne and City had come up with a very different plan and Alvarez knew that as long as he went to pass correctly, his captain would find him with one of those trademark, perfectly placed passes weighted.
However, no matter how many times they’ve practiced the routine on the training pitch, it’s still an arresting sight to see it come out in a game. Guardiola’s celebration spoke to that.
Alvarez’s run across Vitinho and past an unsuspecting Wilson Odobert was as stealthy as the vertical, low, driven, 20-yard pass from De Bruyne that found him. All it took was a nice finish in the corner, ahead of the onrushing James Trafford, and Alvarez made that look easy too, when it was just that.
And so the birthday boy, 24 on the day, had his second goal in the space of six minutes as Burnley stared down the barrel of another hiding in east Manchester and City’s Premier League title rivals shuddered as De Bruyne looked further. better and better. and Erling Haaland returning to raise the threat level even more.
Indeed, such was the focus on Haaland’s return to the squad after almost two months out with a leg injury that it was easy to forget that John Stones was also back for his first appearance since Christmas.
City were 3-0 up, with Rodri adding a third after Burnley had been hopelessly beaten just 25 seconds into the second half, when Haaland was introduced with 20 minutes remaining. That was not what Burnley, who are destined for a quick return to the Championship, or Liverpool, Arsenal and the rest of those with high title aspirations would particularly want to see.
City had won nine games and won one of Haaland’s 10 games, so it’s fair to say that last season’s Treble winners have fared well in the Norwegian striker’s absence. But it could be a help in the coming months to have someone who scored 52 goals last term again and his introduction was warmly welcomed by the City fans.
Burnley have now conceded 31 goals in seven visits to the Etihad and the result was never in doubt when Alvarez doubled City’s lead. His first was in a more prosaic place. Matheus Nunes showed good speed down the right to get on to Phil Foden’s ball. Nunes’ first attempt at a cross was blocked but in the second the ball fell nicely onto the head of Alvarez who couldn’t miss.
City’s stunning free-kick routine for the latter earned De Bruyne his 104th Premier League assist, moving ahead of Wayne Rooney and only Ryan Giggs and Cesc Fabregas in the all-time standings. And the Belgian was also involved in City’s third, releasing Foden behind the England midfielder to pull the ball back for Rodri to fire home from the D.
Burnley managed a goal when substitute David Fofana set up Josko Gvardiol to cross for Ameen Al-Dakhil to head over the line but it was little consolation against a team that, in all aspects, five steps forward.
Manchester City must be flawless in a five-horse race for the title – Guardiola
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City are in a five-horse title race and must be flawless to complete their historic fourth Premier League title.
City beat Burnley 3-1 to stay five points behind Liverpool and the form of Jürgen Klopp’s side and Arsenal means Guardiola is demanding perfection over the next four months.
Julián Alvarez’s double on his 24th birthday and Rodri’s strike made it a comfortable afternoon for City, while Ameen Al-Dakhil responded for Burnley. Guardiola says his players will do their best with the pressure of their rivals.
“What is important is that we are there,” Guardiola said. “I know now that there were a lot of games in the first part of the season, now we’re counting down and we know what happens if we drop points with the quality of Arsenal and Liverpool.
“They want that pressure to be active. If we are fair against those teams, I don’t have the feeling I had in the past. When we won a lot of games in a row, we had that feeling that Liverpool wouldn’t drop points.
“Now we see that they are winning comfortably so we have to be ready. The players know it. We push each other and until the end we will try to do the same thing. I would say the attitude is there. I have no doubt about it but if we lose a game people might say we don’t have the right attitude, as I have heard this season. It’s not that.
“It’s not just three people. Tottenham and Aston Villa are still there. My feeling when I see Arsenal play is that they dominate many aspects of the game. When you see Liverpool, every game they are better than the opponent. You can lose games but they are better. I know how strong they are but still we are there.”
City’s second goal came from a set-piece that Kevin De Bruyne surprised the Burnley defense by slipping through Alvarez when most were expecting a shot. Guardiola was entering the dugout to congratulate league coach Carlos Vicens.
“Set pieces today are very important,” said Guardiola. “We won the FA Cup against Spurs from a corner and today Carlos and Jack [Wilson, City analyst]) prepared. I am not involved in set pieces because the others are better and I don’t have time and we are preparing things and corners.
“Like every team. Not that we are different to other teams but we prepared this free kick and it worked. Kevin had to make the perfect pass and Julian the movement. Someone had the idea to do this and Carlos and Jack all believe.”
Erling Haaland returned after seven weeks out with a broken leg, and Guardiola added: “Today if it was 7-0 at half-time he would have played more minutes. If it was 0-0 he might not have played a minute. I saw it acutely, the feeling that it was there. He only had a clear chance Jérémy [Doku] he did not see when he could score. He’s been very good without him for the last two months but with him we’re a better team and we’re really happy he’s back.”
Burnley striker Manuel Benson could be leaving the club on deadline day after being left out of the matchday squad with Hull, Southampton and Leeds United keen to sign him during the window.
“There were rumors about him going on loan, he usually wants to play and we’ll see how he sorts himself out,” said Burnley manager Vincent Kompany, who is looking forward to an active final day of the window.
“I hope something happens for us tomorrow. We are at the stage of the season where we have to rely on the guys in the squad. You can make miracle transitions but they are hard to find.”
