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Manchester City turned on the style as they obliterated a lacklustre Burnley side who failed to register a single shot on target the entire evening. The outgoing champions looked unplayable at times, but barely needed to move beyond the third gear to put five past an uncharacteristically hapless Burnley defence.
The match concluded the first week of Premier League action since its resumption post the COVID-19 outbreak. Manchester City looked like they were never gone as they capped off the week picking up six points from two games, scoring eight goals and conceding none.
In the bigger picture, it does little more than delay the inevitable, that is the crowning of Liverpool as the new Premier League champions. However, there were certainly a number of positives to take from the match for Manchester City as they head into a busy run of games.
The Clarets, on the other hand, must go back to the drawing board to ensure their upcoming days aren't as gloomy. On that note, here are five talking points from the Premier League encounter between Manchester City and Burnley.
Five talking points from Manchester City's 5-0 win over Burnley
#5: Burnley's defensive intensity short-lived
Burnley looked at their defensive best in the first few minutes of the game against Manchester City. They managed to crowd the midfield and the wings, allowing Manchester City with no space whatsoever to work with. Their centrebacks, Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, did a good job of marking Sergio Agüero early on.
It certainly looked as if a cagey affair was in store at the Etihad. It certainly was till the 18th minute when Manchester City managed to carve out a scoring chance. Soon Burnley's defensive resilience fizzled, out and the Citizens managed to eke out their opener in stunning fashion.
From that moment onwards, Burnley seemed deflated and Manchester City, buoyed. Charlie Taylor, who did a solid job of keeping Riyad Mahrez at bay for a good half an hour, lost his mojo completely and was then beaten at will by the Algerian. Dwight McNeil, having to push a little bit farther up the pitch after Burnley went a goal down, failed to assist his fullback in defending, and it didn't take long for Manchester City to exploit the same.
#4: Phil Foden rises to the occasion
Given how compactly Burnley were set up, one could have guessed that it might require a long-range effort to break the deadlock. That is exactly what happened. Phil Foden collected an innocuous pass from Bernardo Silva outside the Burnley box before unleashing a fierce shot to the bottom corner that landed out of Nick Pope's reach.
The Manchester City faithful have been demanding for a long time that Foden is played more often, and one could see why. It finally seems as if Foden is playing the role he deserves, featuring frequently and repaying manager Pep Guardiola's faith in him.
Foden was sharp throughout the entirety of the match, playing some sweet passes and added another well-deserved goal to cap off a superb individual display that earned him the Man of the Match award.
Foden now has three goals and one assist in the last 80-odd minutes of Premier League football. His dribbling prowess and ability to carry the ball forward looked very promising in the game. Foden is a special talent, and it seems as if though he's living up to the hype.
#3: Wholesale changes work out for Pep Guardiola
Manchester City's squad is unmatched in-depth, which allowed manager Pep Guardiola to name a strong XI despite making as many as eight changes to the team, including a whole new back-four, that beat Arsenal 3-0. Those changes worked out well as the new batch of starters looked fresh and raring to go.
It's a huge positive for Manchester City who have games coming thick and fast. They will need to make changes often enough, as would every other team. If the match against Burnley is anything to go by, Manchester City will be doing fine.
Every Manchester City player looks physically fit and mentally charged up. Guardiola has a fully fit squad at his disposal for the first time in quite a while, and he will need his entire roster to maintain this fitness level in order to compete for the remaining trophies.
The Manchester City gaffer will have a few selection dilemmas to counter given the good form of a number of players. It remains to be seen what line-up he comes up with in the upcoming heavyweight bout against Chelsea.
#2: Manchester City overcome defensive struggles
The biggest reason behind Manchester City's inability to mount a serious title challenge this season was their porous defence in the absence of Aymeric Laporte.
However, they have improved significantly on that front in recent times, having kept four clean sheets in their last five games. In the two games since the resumption of the EPL following the COVID-19 outbreak, Manchester City have hardly looked troubled while defending, and have dealt with counter-attacks much better than they have for much of the campaign.
Although it is certainly not a big enough sample space to draw any serious inferences from, but it gives Manchester City some much-needed momentum nonetheless. They will need to carry this defensive momentum throughout the remainder of the season as they look to add the FA Cup and the Champions League to their trophy cabinet in an otherwise underwhelming season.
The statistics behind Manchester City's impressive defensive efforts in their last two Premier League games make for interesting reading. They have only allowed five shots at goal, with not a single one on target.
#1: Leroy Sane's departure doesn't call for a panic buy
In the build-up to this game, Pep Guardiola all but confirmed Leroy Sane's desire to depart Manchester City at the end of the season. On being asked about Sane's potential replacement, Guardiola insisted that he has enough firepower in his ranks to deal with the German's departure, without necessarily heading to the transfer market to look for one. If Monday night's performance is anything to go by, the Manchester City manager might have a valid point.
One of the players Guardiola mentioned as an able substitute for Sane was youngster Phil Foden, who indeed started the match at left-wing. Owing to his quickness and agility, Foden is capable of playing on either wing, despite being primarily a midfielder.
The 20-year-old Englishman was in breath-taking form as he ran rings around the Burnley defence. On the other wing, Riyad Mahrez wreaked similar havoc. Raheem Sterling was also an option who could have easily played the role of the left-winger. Indeed, Manchester City do have a number of players capable of playing the Leroy Sane role.
Sane's immense quality is known to one and all, and his boots won't be easy to fill. His return is a big positive to take from this match as his pace and trickery will surely be of use if Manchester City are to go all out for the Champions League title.
