Erling Haaland’s brace and Rodri’s strike fired Manchester City to a 3-0 win at Burnley in the 2023-24 Premier League season opener.
Haaland volleyed the reigning champions ahead in the fourth minute before he added a second goal via the underside of the crossbar in the 36th minute, amidst a flurry of missed chances for the Norwegian across the match.
Rodri secured victory for Man City with a close-range strike from a 76th minute free-kick as last season’s treble-winners began their new league campaign in style.
Burnley’s disappointing return to the top-flight however was marred by a first-half incident in which City’s Rico Lewis was hit by a missile from a home fan, who was subsequently removed from the stadium.
We are aware of an incident that happened in the first half of the match where a missile was thrown at Manchester City player Rico Lewis.
This is unacceptable.
The person responsible has been identified and removed from the ground by the police.
Any individual found guilty of…— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 11, 2023
Another fan encroached onto the pitch in the 86th minute which added further disappointment on a difficult night for the home crowd.
Burnley substitute, Anass Zaroury eventually capped a difficult evening after he was red carded for a lunge on Kyle Walker in injury-time following a Video Assistant-Referee (VAR) review.
Speaking post-match to BBC’s Match of the Day, Man City manager, Pep Guardiola described the opening match against newly-promoted Burnley as “difficult”, but he applauded their effort as he added: “They give everything but we were fortunate to find a goal so quick. We gave chance to them and we have to improve.”
After the heartbreak of losing out to Arsenal on penalties in the Community Shield where they struggled for intensity at times, Man City produced a rapid start to banish those memories as Kevin De Bruyne forced Dara O’Shea to concede a corner in the third minute.
Barely a minute later and the reigning champions were on the scoresheet as the corner was played short on the right flank, which culminated in De Bruyne’s cross being knocked down by Rodri at the left post for Haaland to volley into the near-left corner.
De Bruyne missed an opportunity to double City’s lead in the sixth minute as he rifled over the bar whilst Burnley struggled to settle.
Vincent Kompany’s Clarets however were harshly denied a seventh minute penalty as summer signing, Zeki Amdouni was shoved to ground by Manuel Akanji, only for referee – Craig Pawson to ignore their penalty appeals.
Ameen Al-Dakhil produced Burnley’s first chance of the game as he nodded wide from a ninth-minute free-kick, whilst Haaland missed a chance to extend City’s lead two minutes later as he flicked De Bruyne’s cross wide.
Both teams thereafter exchanged chances as Luca Koleosho fired wide in the 16th minute and Amdouni’s shot two minutes later was saved as Burnley grew more into the game, whilst James Trafford blocked Rodri’s header from De Bruyne’s 17th minute free-kick.
De Bruyne’s first start since Man City’s treble-clinching triumph in the Champions League Final in June came to an early end, as he grinded to a halt in the 22nd minute with a hamstring injury.
His injury meant that new signing, Mateo Kovacic make his first Premier League appearance in City shirt following his move from Chelsea, as he replaced the Belgian a minute later.
Addressing De Bruyne’s injury, Guardiola commented: “He was injured again unfortunately. Same place and position as the Champions League and he will be out for a while.”
City however continued to weather Burnley’s growing attack and got their reward in the 36th minute as Kyle Walker cut back towards Julian Alvarez inside the box, from which the Argentinian laid off for Haaland to rifle in via the underside of the crossbar to double their lead.
Guardiola’s Cityzens eventually cruised to half-time in firm control as Burnley’s return to the top-flight proved to be a tough awakening, although Guardiola wasn’t happy with Haaland’s performance despite the Norwegian netting twice.
The Catalonian-born manager was further annoyed early in the second half as Haaland put a 52nd minute shot wide, before Rodri saw a shot and header saved by Trafford in the 55th minute.
Burnley meanwhile upped their pressing intensity and passed the ball around much faster than in the first half, but were given a scare in the 60th minute as Phil Foden played Haaland through but the Norwegian teed up Alvarez who rifled wide.
Kompany’s Clarets eventually saw their resistance broken in the 75th minute as a free-kick found Ake who knocked the ball down, which found Rodri unmarked to smash into the top-left corner from close-range to wrap up victory.
Burnley’s painful top-flight return was capped by a red card for substitute, Anass Zaroury in the 94th minute after the Morocco international recklessly fouled Walker in the 93rd minute, which Pawson initially deemed a yellow card offence before he dished out the red card following a VAR review.
What’s Next?
Burnley now have a fortnight off due to their trip to Luton being postponed due to stadium rennovations at Kenilworth Road, before they host Aston Villa at Turf Moor in a 2pm BST kick-off on Sunday 27 August.
Man City will now head to Piraeus, Greece, to face Sevilla in 2023 UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday 16 August at 8pm UK Time, before facing Newcastle at Etihad Stadium just 72 hours later on Saturday 19 August.
Teams
Burnley: James Trafford, Jordan Beyer (Benson 74′), Dara O’Shea, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Vitinho, Sander Berge (Brownhill 90+1′), Josh Cullen, Conor Roberts, Koleosho (Bruun Larsen 61′), Lyle Foster (Redmond 90+1′), Zeki Amdouni (Zaroury 61′)
Substitutes: Arijanet Muric, Jack Cork, Johan Berg Gudmundsson, Josh Brownhill, Manuel Benson, Nathan Redmond, Hjalmar Ekdal, Anass Zaroury, Jacob Bruun Larsen
Manchester City: Ederson, Kyle Walker (McAtee 90+5′), Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake (Laporte 79′), Rico Lewis (Gvardiol 79′), Rodi, Kevin De Bruyne (Kovacic 23′), Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland (Palmer 80′)
Substitutes: Stefan Ortega, Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, Aymeric Laporte, Sergio Gomez, Josko Gvardiol, Cole Palmer, James McAtee
Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance – 21,572
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