Burnley Punishes Sterling Miss to Earn Deserved Point Against Man City
Burnley earned a share of the spoils against a below-par Manchester City as Berg Gudmundsson struck late to equalize after Danilo had given City a first half lead.
City manager Pep Guardiola will be furious that his side couldn't finish the game off, especially after Raheem Sterling missed an absolute sitter at 1-0.
For Burnley, Aaron Lennon made his first start for the club following his January switch from Everton, while City dropped new signing Aymeric Laporte to the bench after his mid-week debut against West Brom, Vincent Kompany coming in to replace him. Somewhat oddly for a club with such an abundance of resources, City chose to only name six substitutes on the bench.
The game started in a fairly timid manner, Burnley generally restraining City well and looking comfortable. That lasted until the 22nd minute, when, out of nowhere, City took the lead through an unlikely source. A short corner found its way to Brazilian defender Danilo, and under no pressure from the Burnley defence, he curled a beautiful shot past Nick Pope to give the Blues the lead and score only his second goal of the season.
Burnley didn't lose hope, however, and continued to look confident, despite their recent poor form which has seen them go eight league games without a win. It required a brilliant save from City keeper Ederson to prevent Ben Mee from equalizing in the 31st minute, Mee breaking the offside trap from a free-kick and connecting well with a volley, with Ederson flinging himself down low to his left to palm the shot away for a corner.
Five minutes later Mee again had a chance for Burnley, this time heading just wide from a corner when he could have done better.
OLI SCARFF/GettyImages
City still looked dangerous on the counter-attack, however, and Belgian maestro Kevin De Bruyne fired a powerful shot straight at Pope after a quick break to remind Burnley of the damage the league leaders can inflict given the opportunity.
After the break City dominated from the off in an attempt to kill the game early, winning a series of successive corners and constantly probing and testing the Burnley back line. In the 54th minute, they should have doubled their lead, Sergio Aguero unselfishly squaring to Sterling when he could have shot with Sterling blazed the shot over, much to Guardiola's visible frustration.
A few minutes later Danilo tried his luck again from a very similar position to his opener, but this time Pope was able to tip over. City were knocking on the door, and a second goal seemed inevitable.
But in the 68th minute, against the run of play, Burnley were hugely unfortunate not to be level. Jack Cork flicked the ball to Aaron Lennon, who smashed a shot which Ederson amazingly tipped onto the bar. It was a world-class save to deny Lennon a dream goal on his debut.
Just seconds later Sterling missed an even worse sitter than his first attempt, Kyle Walker crossing for his fellow English international to inexplicably poke wide from a few yards out with the goal gaping. It has to go down as one of the misses of the season so far.
Ian MacNicol/GettyImages
Both these moments gave Clarets fans hope, and the noise picked up in the stadium as they sensed an upset could be on the cards.
And in the 81st minute, Turf Moor erupted as Burnley equalized, a delicious ball from Jack Cork finding Berg Gudmundsson at the far post, who beat Ederson from close range. It was no less than they deserved for a battling effort against a superior team.
Burnley managed to see the rest of the game out comfortably, and the draw means that they will stay 7th this weekend unless Leicester City beat Swansea. City extend their titanic lead to 16 points, but they will be frustrated to be leaving Turf Moor without all three points.
