Man City Breeze Past Burnley to Extend Their Lead at the Top of the Table
Manchester City equaled their club record of eleven consecutive victories after breezing past Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
City dominated possession in the first half, with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne imposing their supreme creative ability on the Burnley defence. But for all the Sky Blue's commanding football, they lacked the finishing touch that we have seen so often this season.
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However, after failing to work Nick Pope in the Burnley goal, David Silva's incredible cross-field pass sliced through the Burnley midfield, and after a loose touch from De Bruyne, summer signing Bernardo Silva went down under a challenge from the keeper. Whether there was actually contact on the Portuguese midfielder is questionable, with the Burnley team outraged after surrounding the referee after the decision to grant the home side a penalty was given.
Despite the protests from the away side, Sergio Aguero calmly slotted his penalty to equal Eric Brook's all-time goalscoring record for City with 177 goals.
As the half came to a close, the Argentine could've doubled his tally had it not been for a superb save from the left boot of Nick Pope. Bernardo Silva's follow up was then blocked by the face of Tarkowski.
Burnley's best chance of the half fell to Scott Arfield when the away side quickly countered following a City corner, but his attempt on goal was blocked by John Stones.
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Much of the opening 25 minutes of the second half was similar to the first, with David Silva's sliced attempt from 25 yards after ten minutes the only clear cut chance. A seemingly never-ending spell of pressure saw Burnley's resilience tested to the limit, with De Bruyne and David Silva fizzing in cross after cross until the home side finally doubled the lead in the 73rd minute.
Leroy Sane's fine delivery from the corner flag was met by a towering leap from Nicolas Otamendi, who beat Ben Mee to the ball to power his header into the back the net for 2-0.
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Two minutes later, Kevin De Bruyne whipped the ball through to Leroy Sane in typical fashion, for the young German to then rifle his shot into the far corner to make it 3-0. It was Sane's 7th goal in 10 games this season.
Despite Burnley's resilient display, the attacking dynamism of Manchester City was too much for way side. The Sky Blues will remain at the peak of the Premier League, and are yet to be beaten this season.
