Five Things Learned: Manchester City 5-1 Burnley (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a ruthless 5-1 rout of Burnley on Kyle Walker’s return to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

City came flying out the blocks in the early stages, moving the ball with pace and intensity, stretching the Claret’s defence from the off and applying early pressure to Martin Dubravka’s goal. Eventually, that pressure told.

As the man of the moment recently, Jeremy Doku danced around Kyle Walker with some superb skill; his effort was parried by the goalkeeper but rather fortuitously poked into the back of the net by Maxime Esteve to give the home side the lead inside 12 minutes.

The remainder of the first period, however, was a very different story; Pep Guardiola’s side became uncharacteristically complacent and took their foot off the gas completely and the residents of Turf Moor took full advantage.

Quilindschy Hartman launched a whipped cross aimed towards former Leeds man Jaiden Anthony, who connected well but was aided by a huge deflection off City skipper Ruben Dias, which left Donnarumma hopeless. Just like that, via the visitor’s first shot on target, honours were even at the break.

Whatever was relayed between Guardiola and the players at the interval clearly worked, though, as in the second half the home side were merciless and put Burnley to the sword.

With just over an hour on the clock, the Claret’s tiredness was evident as the always tenacious Jeremy Doku delivered yet another superb ball to the back stick, which Haaland climbed to meet – heading down to Matheus Nunes – who hammered home without remorse to give his side the lead.

From that point on, with Burnley clearly exhausted, those in sky blue took complete control and decided to seize the opportunity to try and add to their goal difference, and add to it they did. Starting off with another nightmare for Burnley’s number five as he steered in yet another cross, this time from Matheus Nunes – poking the ball past his own goalkeeper – marking an afternoon to forget for the Frenchman.

The game was all but over at 3-1 with the deficit doubled in the 65th minute, but of course, Erling Haaland smelt blood with Burnley’s defence disheartened and in disarray. So, after barely having a sniff of goal all game, he somehow managed to bag himself an excellent brace. The talisman simply insists on his moment – two goals for the Norwegian and an emphatic 5-1 victory for City.

Here are five things we learnt from that emphatic home victory against Scott Parker’s Burnley!

1. Jeremy Doku is a phenomenon

A favourable and familiar story this campaign, as the Belgian speedster stole the show yet again, securing consecutive Premier League Player of the Match awards and producing impeccable performances week in, week out. Not only did City’s number 11 register yet another assist but he was involved in almost everything Manchester City did in the final third, taking it upon himself to become a constant outlet and the heartbeat of the frontline in recent weeks. It’s safe to say he’s succeeding!

Doku ran the game and simply looked to be enjoying himself like a child in his garden, creating the most chances in the match (3), completing the most dribbles (7) and winning the most duels (10). For the vast majority of the game, Burnley set up with multiple defenders trying to nullify him but it simply wasn’t enough for the left-winger was unstoppable.

The £55 million man from Rennes looks to have improved drastically in recent times, with a much sharper end product evident in his games for club and country so far this season. The Belgian has racked up an impressive three goals and three assists in his last five games for City and his nation.

Guardiola seconded this hypothesis after the win. “I have the feeling Jeremy Doku’s decision-making in the final third has improved – wow,” the Manchester City boss said. “He’s an incredible threat against teams in a low block and deep; Jeremy is really, really important. Really important!”

If the best coach on the planet is singing your praises that much, the question is – how high really is the ceiling for the 23-year-old?

2. Erling Braut Haaland – Man or Machine?

Again, just as it looked as if the Leeds-born goalscoring sensation may not find his way onto the scoresheet on Saturday afternoon, he took matters into his own hands, simply refusing to not find the back of the net and grabbing a brace in the dying embers to go alongside his assist. This took his domestic tally in sky blue this season to nine goal contributions in just six games – and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

If Guardiola’s talisman – who is now Manchester City’s ninth all-time top goalscorer – can keep up this red-hot form as we progress through the season, the value of his inevitable goals will be truly immense. City will be fighting on all four fronts this term to try and reclaim their right to silverware they so desperately crave, making it vital for Haaland to remain fit and firing.

The numbers for Haaland are simply inhuman; there’s no other way to explain the record-shattering numbers. Without a doubt the best on the planet, incomparable to any other goal scorer currently. With an incredible 18 goals and assists in his last nine games for club and country, he has become the top-scoring Norwegian in Premier League history.

“Ten more years, ten more years, Erling Haaland!”

3. Nico Gonzalez is developing

To fill the boots of the best player in the world between 2023-24 is a near-impossible task but Nico Gonzalez is slowly growing as a player in blue and white for Pep Guardiola and is starting to show why he was recruited in January to be Rodri’s understudy.

Emphasising that although he may not be a direct replacement who slots in flawlessly – and that it goes without saying that no current number six on the planet can match a fully fit Rodri when it comes to ability – Manchester City’s number 14 can be relied upon to play the role when needed, and he will certainly play it to a high standard.

Statistically, Nico thrived on Saturday afternoon as he was permitted to have a lot of the ball against Burnley’s defensive structure with 94 touches and a 91% pass accuracy, with 77 of his passes finding the intended target.

He was quality in attacking and defensive situations, with his progressiveness on show as the Spaniard made 10 passes into the final third, whilst he also won seven duels, made three tackles and six recoveries at the other end of the pitch. Nico had a great game as a whole stepping in for the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.

Understandably, the former Porto midfielder is not the finished article by any means, being only 23 and in his first full season with the club. It is certainly going to take time for him to fully integrate and grow as a player, but in contrast to the limited minutes he received in his early months, you can definitely see improvement there as well as an increase in faith from Guardiola.

This proves that the Spaniard is more than capable of slotting in from the start and doing his job exceptionally. Comparing him to Rodri is unjust but with his age and potential, he definitely has the ability, as time passes, to become part of the future fixtures and fittings at Manchester City.

4. A game of two halves

Aside from the first 15 or so minutes of the half when the home side took the lead, Guardiola’s men looked lethargic and complacent at times, struggling to create anything of any real substance after breaking the deadlock. The Blues made some sloppy mistakes and gave the ball away far too much.

At points, City looked very vulnerable defensively and that weakness was pounced upon by those in claret, with the visitors grabbing an equaliser out of practically nothing via their first shot on target, making it all square at the break.

In contrast, City grew into the game as the second period progressed. Still slightly shaky in the first phase of the half, but as the referees’ watches ticked past the hour mark, that is when City’s quality really shone through. The home side was unrelenting in that last half an hour and proved simply too much to handle.

From this, we can gather two things: one being that City are not flawless; the issues of the season gone by still rear their ugly heads at times. But the second and more important takeaway is the way that the team respond to these situations and setbacks and against Burnley, they responded in the perfect manner. The rebuild is not complete but there is a significant improvement.

5. A HUGE three points!

With all due respect to Scott Parker’s Burnley, this was a game that Pep Guardiola’s side simply had to win and were the favourites to do so. Even early doors into the season, anything less than three points would but make the mountain an extra bit harder to climb for the former four-in-a-row league champions in the title race.

City did what they had to do, especially in the second half. Yes, there were some nervy moments but analysing the game as a whole, that was a ruthless, emphatic display of intent from Pep Guardiola and his players – a message that despite the poor start, they simply refuse to just let the idea of the title slip away.

They are serial winners; debating whether they will win the title or not at this juncture is irrelevant with 32 games of the campaign still left to play, but City will certainly fight to be in the race for as long as possible.

Those three points doubled in value just shy of 10 minutes after the final whistle in Manchester, because Eddie Nketiah had netted a stoppage-time dagger at the death to bring Liverpool’s unbeaten streak to an unceremonious and abrupt end, closing the gap between Manchester City and the reigning champions to just five points.

We recognise that in the context of a title race this is still a mountain to climb and that those from the red sector of Merseyside are still in pole position, but with it still being such early days in the season, perhaps it’s not time to rule City out as contenders just yet.

There are over 90 points left for the taking and the beautiful game is unpredictable, so who knows what could happen?