Burnley 0 Manchester City 1: match reportHaaland’s early chip enough to narrowly beat Burnley as City move in to top spot… Just
Manchester City defeated Burnley 1-0 to move top of the Premier League level on goal difference with Arsenal. The match took place just three days after the Blues’ crucial 2-1 victory against the Gunners. Only one change was made to the team that played on Sunday, with Ait-Nouri coming in for the injured Rodri, with O’Reilly moving into a defensive midfield position. The rest of the team remained the same.
The first chance came in the third minute, when Cherki’s very close-range shot was saved by Dubravka and onto the post and out. An early chance of many that were missed by City throughout the game.
City didn’t take long to score the goal to take them into the lead, with Haaland chipping the ball over the keeper and into the net after Doku’s excellent through ball found the striker and after just 5 minutes it was 1-0.
Moments later, Haaland had the chance to make it two but his shot was deflected behind for a corner. Burnley themselves had a few close chances and Flemming found himself with a clear shot on goal against Donnarumma, but his shot was well wide. This was Burnley’s best chance of the game as it turned out but City had far more.
In the early minutes of the second half, Semenyo missed two shots that would’ve given the Blues a safety net, with Dubravka making more excellent saves. In the 58th minute, Haaland looked certain to score his second, but hit the post to add to City’s frustrations.
Cherki had a few chances from distance but on most occasions were wide and played the ball to O’Reilly who looked certain to make it 2-0 but once again, Dubravka made a very good save to keep it at just 1-0.
Burnley were awarded a corner at the very end after a deflected effort and for a split second it got nervy for City, but the resulting cross didn’t trouble the defence and was easily cleared. Nevertheless, in a game where City may have wanted to up their goal difference, they came away with just a one goal victory margin as the full-time whistle blew.
City and Arsenal are now both on 70 points, with +37 GD. As it stands, City are top based on goals scored (66 vs 63). With some players showing some signs of tiredness in the match, the Blues may look to rest some players for their FA cup semi-final against Southampton at the weekend, after which they will be able to use a weeks rest before their next league game against Everton away. An incredibly tough final month awaits the Blues, but they will want to keep belief that they have what it takes to get over the line.
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