Two Manchester City players quietly had good games against Burnley | OneFootball

Manchester City picked up a 5-1 win over Burnley at the Etihad Stadium yesterday. Pep Guardiola’s side scored four goals in the last 30 minutes of yesterday’s match to put Scott Parker’s plucky Burnley side away. Jeremy Doku put in a superb performance for City yesterday. Erling Haaland bagged a late brace to continue his strong start to the 25/26 season. Two other players quietly had good games at the Etihad yesterday. They were Nico and Matheus Nunes. Both players played a critical role in Manchester City’s win yesterday.

Matheus Nunes put in a critical performance for Manchester City yesterday.

With Abdukodir Khusanov out of yesterday’s match due to injury, Matheus Nunes stepped in at right-back. The Portuguese international had a good game and was an attacking threat throughout yesterday’s match. He was caught out of position for Burnley’s goal, but from there, Nunes played a key role in Manchester City’s win.

Matheus Nunes restored Manchester City’s lead with a crisp volley in the 61st minute. He got on the end of an Erling Haaland knockdown to give his team the lead. Nunes set up Manchester City’s third goal of the afternoon with a nice cross that Maxime Estève diverted into his own net four minutes later. The ability of Nunes to get forward was a key component in Manchester City’s win. Nunes’ physicality was also a welcome addition to Pep Guardiola’s side yesterday. It was one of the better performances from Matheus Nunes for some time. At his best, Matheus Nunes has a role to play in this Manchester City squad. The hope is that he can consistently play as he did yesterday.

Pep Guardiola singled out Matheus Nunes for praise following his team’s win yesterday. Speaking on Matheus Nunes performance, Pep Guardiola told the media: “We need Nunes’ physicality. We need that courage and his pace and the energy he has and with Josko, him and Khusanov before we have incredible legs to go backwards.”

“Burnley played long balls, second balls and in transitions he can help a lot.”

“He’s a midfield player so we needed him to have the vision to play good passes and do good assists. I encourage him to try to do it again and again.”

Nico stepped into Rodri’s shoes and did his work well against Burnley.

Another player who had a game against Burnley yesterday was Nico. With Rodri unavailable for yesterday’s match, Nico stepped into the Rodri role in midfield. The Spanish midfielder had a good game and played an integral role in Manchester City’s win.

Nico helped Manchester City dominate possession against Burnley. As per statistics sourced from Sofascore, he completed 77/85 of his passes. His ability to help his team retain possession was impressive. There was a calmness to Nico’s play which was good to see. He also took up good positions defensively and wasn’t caught out of position in midfield. Nico wasn’t perfect yesterday, and he is a player learning to play the hardest position in a Pep Guardiola side. He showed yesterday that he is slowly picking up the nuances of the Rodri role. That was the a major positive for Nico and Manchester City to take from yesterday’s match.

Summary.

Nico and Matheus Nunes quietly had good games for Manchester City in their 5-1 win over Burnley yesterday. They put in quality displays which won’t grab the headlines, but they did what they had to do to help Pep Guardiola’s side pick up an important three points yesterday.