English Premier League
Teams: Burnley 1-4 Manchester City
Date: 03 December 2019
Venue: Turf Moor
Manchester City got their Premier League title charge back on track after thrashing Burnley 4-1 at Turf Moor on Tuesday evening.
Nicolas Otamendi started in defence after a two-month absence, with Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Gabriel Jesus coming in as the other changes for the Citizens, who looked to return to winning ways.
City came into the match after throwing away two big points at the hands of Newcastle United over the weekend –granting Liverpool to open an 11-point gap.
Jesus who hadn’t scored in eight matches, became Pep Guardiola’s trusted frontmen after the injury to Sergio Aguero but the Brazilian experienced mixed signals earlier on.
That was until the midway stage when the former Palmeiras forward drifted into the area from the right to curl one into the top left corner amidst a grasping Nick Pope to hand the Citizens the lead.
Burnley, who were still smarting from the loss to Crystal Palace at home and struggled to settle down, as Raheem Sterling threatened to double his side’s advantage with a close-range tap in, although the England international was unable to profit.
City just went and upped the tempo four minutes from halftime when Jesus volleyed into the roof of the net after an inch-perfect cross from Bernardo Silva following a string of passes around the area.
This only aided the visitors eight minutes later as Rodri smashed the top of the net to extend the visitors' after the ball bounced kindly to him from David Silva’s blocked attempt.
With the defending league champions comfortably leading, Guardiola made his first change of the game under the final 20 minutes, with Mahrez coming for Sterling.
Mahrez gave City a further cushion when he drilled home a right-footed effort from the edge of the area after finding space to get the strike away three minutes from fulltime.
Burnley responded immediately with their first major threat as Robert Brady got on the end of Jeff Hendrick’s low ball to fire beyond Ederson.
Brady's strike was nothing more than a consolation as City ran out 4-1 winners to reclaim second spot, eight points behind Liverpool.
