Sporting Life
Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez scores
Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez scores

Man City 5-0 Burnley: Two for Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez as City hit five

By Sporting Life
Football
Mon June 22, 2020 · 6y ago

Burnley were embarrassed on and off the pitch as an offensive banner was flown above the Etihad Stadium in the early stages of a 5-0 trouncing by Manchester City.

The Lancashire club issued a statement strongly condemning those responsible for flying a plane carrying the message 'White Lives Matter Burnley' at the beginning of their first Premier League outing since the restart.

The aircraft circled the ground moments after all players had taken the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement at kick-off.

"We wish to make it clear that those responsible are not welcome at Turf Moor," read a club statement. "This, in no way, represents what Burnley Football Club stands for."

In terms of the game, the weakened Clarets were woefully outclassed by a much-changed but far superior City side, for whom Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden each scored twice.

David Silva also got on the scoresheet as the champions claimed a victory that means Liverpool, who visit Eastlands next week, will have to wait a little longer to relieve them of their crown.

The downside for City was the loss of record goalscorer Sergio Aguero who, on his return to the starting line-up, limped off with a knee injury just before half-time.

City had made a number of changes themselves from last week's comfortable victory over Arsenal, naming the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling on the bench while Aguero returned.

Burnley, faced with a number of problems, had no such quality to turn to. Senior stars such as Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes and Johann Berg Gudmundsson were out injured and a number of other players whose contracts are due to expire next week were omitted. The limitations on Sean Dyche were evident in that he only named seven of the now nine permitted substitutes.

City carved the visitors open for the first time on 16 minutes as David Silva played in Bernardo Silva only for the Portuguese to slice wide.

The opener came six minutes later as Foden's sweet low strike from outside the area curled its way into the bottom corner.

City threatened more as Aguero had a shot blocked but the Argentinian may have hurt himself as he dragged the effort out from under his feet.

Mahrez doubled the lead when he took a great crossfield pass from Fernandinho in his stride and jinked into the area before shooting low across Nick Pope.

Aguero's knock was exacerbated just before the interval when he twisted and fell in a challenge from Ben Mee just before the break and limped off gingerly.

The consolation for City was that VAR ruled the incident a penalty and Mahrez calmly tucked home his second from the spot.

The procession continued after the break as David Silva made it 4-0 when he slid onto a Bernardo Silva pass following another short corner.

City manager Pep Guardiola refused to ease up, sending on De Bruyne just after the hour and Foden added the fifth moments later by finishing off a sweeping move from close range.

Leroy Sane, who it was revealed last week has rejected the offer of a new contract and could leave this summer, appeared for the last 11 minutes. It was the German's first outing since suffering a knee injury in the Community Shield last August.

He got into the action late with a blocked free-kick and another shot over the bar.

Man City 5-0 Burnley: Opta stats

  • Manchester City have scored 5+ goals on 17 different occasions in the Premier League since Pep Guardiola joined at the start of the 2016-17 campaign; eight more than any other side.
  • Burnley suffered their joint-highest margin of defeat in a Premier League game (5), only conceding more goals once before in the competition (1-6 v Man City in April 2010).
  • Pep Guardiola made eight changes to his Manchester City starting line-up against Burnley, making 105 in total in the Premier League this season; 25 more than any other side.
  • Burnley are the first side to have as many as 10 English starters in a Premier League game since Middlesbrough in May 2006 (10 v Fulham).
  • Burnley mustered just one shot in the game, their lowest-ever tally in a Premier League fixture.
  • Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has scored four goals and provided seven assists in 12 starts in all competitions this season.
  • Riyad Mahrez registered just his third home brace in English football in all competitions and his first for Manchester City.
  • Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Manchester City’s David Silva has been directly involved in 148 Premier League goals (58 scored, 90 assisted), the joint-fourth-highest tally in that period and the most of any midfielder.
  • Bernardo Silva has assisted four of Manchester City's nine Premier League goals against Burnley this season. The last player to provide as many assists against a side in a single campaign was Christian Eriksen v Stoke in 2016/17 (4).

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