It wasn’t spectacular but Manchester City went top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win at Turf Moor – a result which knocked title-rivals Arsenal off the summit and relegated Burnley back to the Championship.
Pep Guardiola’s side now lead Arsenal on goals scored, having found the net three times more this season – but will head home kicking themselves for not creating a significant goal-difference advantage with their 28 shots.
City had been brilliant on Sunday, winning their thriller with Arsenal at the Etihad to seize the title-race momentum.
But they were left hanging on in the final seconds here, with Guardiola letting his frustration show through an underwhelming and at times tense second half.
His celebrations at full-time were full of relief – although Erling Haaland insisted to Sky Sports the win is all that mattered.
It had started ominously for Burnley and Arsenal. Haaland had stormed through to score the opener after just five minutes and Rayan Cherki had already seen a shot pushed onto the bar by then. Haaland would go on to strike the woodwork himself later in the game, too.
But the second goal didn’t come, with Nico O’Reilly missing perhaps their best chance to grab another goal right at the death, miscuing from close range. City’s intensity fizzled out after their fast start and this was not the full-throttle performance many were expecting.
However, the win does mean that, for the first time since the first week of the season, City are back on top of the pile and they are in pole position to claim the title with five games remaining. –Skysports
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