Burnley 0-3 Man City (Haaland 4', 36' ; Rodri 76')
Man City set the pace for the game early on thanks to Erling Haaland's great strike.
Burnley actually looked good for some 15-20 minutes and could've scored with more luck. Haaland added another before the break and Burnley never looked the same in the second half. City cruised to the victory after the break and could've added another.
A perfect start for the defending Premier League champions and Burnley will try again only in two weeks against Aston Villa at home because the game against Luton Town away next week is postponed.
FT. No surprises: Man City beat Burnley 3-0 in the opening game of the Premier League 2023-24 campaign.
90+4' Red Card! Zaroury is sent off for a nasty challenge on Walker. Absolutely needless given the circumstances. Burnley fans are booing Craig Pawson but this is as red as they come.
Kyle Walker can walk but is subbed off.
90+2' What an ugly challenge by Zaroury on Kyle Walker. This has to be a red card.
90' Six minutes is added on although it's not even obvious why and what's the point anyway?
🤳@Bunssoir: "6 minutes?? We’re going to see an average of at least 8 mins added time this season."
89' It's much closer to City's fourth than anything resembling Burnley's first. A worse second half by Vincent Kompany's side.
🤳@andrew__oi: "With the pace and attacking threats of Burnley forwards, all city needed to do is stretch the defence, good fullbacks stopping the wide forward and not moving up the pitch, they literally did that all game Burnley FC Zero goals 😂"
🤳@HoppersGuide: "Not a good way to return to the top flight for Burnley. Throw in a pitch invader on top of this and there are going to be repercussions for the club. Why can't people just enjoy football and behave?"
Meanwhile, a fella made his way onto the pitch while Guardiola is cracking jokes to his assistant coaches.
86' Trafford! Palmer plays Alvarez through but Trafford denies the Argentinian. Much better from the Argentinian this time but tough luck.
85' Akanji reads the game so well as he makes a vital block in City's box. Still time for Burnley's consolation goal.
80' Alvarez is denied by from inside the box. Very dangerous.
Gvardiol, Laporte and Palmer are on; Haaland, Ake and Lewis are off.
78' Josko Gvardiol is about to make his debut
76' GOAL! It looks like Burnley aren't coming back. Rodri is the lucky one for a rebound from a free-kick and he smashes home from a close range with the goalkeeper already on the ground.
74' Manuel Benson who scored 11 goals last season is coming on replacing centre-back Jordan Beyer. Will we see Burnley's push for a goal?
73' Foden with a pass across the penalty area but not accurate enough to give Haaland his hat-trick.
🤳@NeverWinPots: "Rodri just doesn’t want a Haaland hatrick then?"
69' Very selfish from Rodri. He got into a very comfortable position to shoot from (similar to his CL final goal) but opted to awkwardly stride on before making a desperate strike from a much worse position that was blocked anyway. Haaland was also available for a pass.
Craig Bellamy is making a TV appearance. In case you didn't know, the former Man City and Liverpool striker is an assistant coach at Burnley.
65' Burnley earn a corner kick after they find a little space down City's left and actually get into City's penalty area.
60' Alvarez is having an average game. He shoots from a tight angle instead of slowing the ball and maybe crossing towards a bunch of City teammates.
🤳@COYScxl: "Alvarez is not actually as good as people say, actually poor ball striking ability for a ST, limited technically and havent seen much of his passing ability, if he has any."
🤳@Jon_Mackenzie: "Man City doing this much better in the second half to counter Burnley's aggressive OOP - no doubt the reason Pep was pissed with Haaland at HT."
55' Rodri with a long-range effort but right at James Trafford. Then it's Rodri again who wins the corner but Trafford catches ball ball.
50' Haaland with a chance but it's deflected. Great run into the box though, as always.
46' Second half is underway. Can Burnley pull at least one back?
Pep gives Bernardo Silva a long talk as they two emerge from the tunnel.
Alan Shearer bows to Erling Haaland. Pep doesn't.
HT. Burnley 0-2 Man City
Burnley have not been bad at all. In fact, they've had a couple of chances for themselves and no surprise if they had converted one.
However, Man City have Erling Haaland who only needs one chance, one opportunity. He had about two so he scored two.
By the way, Kevin de Bruyne was forced off with an injury with Mateo Kovacic replacing him. Unfortunately, injuries keep following the Belgian.
45' Foden! What a pass from Kovacic (offside?). Foden cushions the ball and is ready to meet James Trafford but is cleanly dispossessed at the last moment.
36' Bernardo Silva loses the ball around the edge of Man City's penalty area which leads to a dangerous strike by Foster. Only a corner kick though.
🤳@_KJM179: "Going to put a bet on Haaland getting 40+ prem goals again I need that pay out when he gets to 35 again."
🤳@JohnOka: "Haaland might break Shearear's record before he turns 30 lol."
35' GOAL! Erling Haaland, who else? It's 2-0 to Man City. Burnley lose concentration and concede an attack down their left. Alvaresz lingers on the ball before passing it to a surprisingly unmarked Haaland who does what he does best.
33' Man City are recycling possession with the aim to ultimately cross the ball in the direction of Haaland. Not so well. But one time they play the ball into Burnley's box Foden is quite close.
29' Foster! Another chance for Burnley as Foster shoots from inside the box. The ball goes slightly wide. Man City are getting exposed on the right-hand side.
🤳@TylerLFC_: "Vincent Kompany's new Burnley. Wow."
🤳@Corrinaaaaaaaa_: "People who didn’t watch Burnley in the Championship are getting a real culture shock today. They’re a changed team."
28' Burnley one-on-one! Only a late touch from Rodri hinders the Burnley attacker and Ederson doesn't even have to make a save.
23' Yes, Kovacic replaces De Bruyne who is injured. The Man City captain goes straight for the tunnel.
Oh no, Kevin de Bruyne may have to go off early.
20' Koleosho is making things lively for Burnley, the game is very much on.
🤳@NickAbbey11: "Burnley looking very very decent. I can see why they walked the Championship last year."
🤳@zuhumomar: "Burnley are balling. Jeez! Seen highlights of what they were doing in the Championship last season but so nice to see live."
Burnley are in no hurry to lunge into pressing
15' Great chance for Burnley! Koleosho's strike goes well over and it wasn't even strong enough but the combination was impressive, starting on the right before eventually switching left.
11' Burnley are defending like Sean Dyche never left but it doesn't stop Man City -- Erling Haaland has a great chance to score another but the ball goes over the ball.
Burnley did well to recover from conceding first in the Championship. Could they do it in the Prem? Against Man City?
9' Burnley take a free-kick but Bernardo Silva bullies an opponent out of the ball's way. Goal kick for City.
6' Burnley are yet to control the ball for even a short period of time.
🤳@pundit_jay: "Welcome to the Premier League Burnley. Introduced to Erling Haaland early. Oh well."
4' GOAL! It took Erling Haaland just 3 minutes and a few seconds to score his first goal this campaign.
A proper mess in Burnley's penalty box following a corner kick leads to Haaland's calmly prodding the ball in. 1-0 to the visitors Man City
0' Kick off
- Burnley's new signing Sander Berge starts right away - he joined the club two days ago
- Elsewhere in the Premier League: check out the latest on Romeo Lavia and Man United's done deal.
- Do you think Burnley stand a chance against the treble winners?
- The two teams meet for the 19th time in the last decade. In the only game Burnley won Vincent Kompany was still a Man City footballer.
- Both teams have revealed the squads and there are notable omissions in Man City's squad.
Ruben Dias has suffered a concussion and, according to Premier League protocols, is missing the game.
Mateo Kovacic was a starter in pre-season but only starts on the bench. The newcomer Josko Gvardiol has yet to make his City debut.
- The Premier League 2023-24 starts here! Championship winners Burnley are hosting Premier League winners Man City as we are guiding you through the key events of the fixture.
