Manchester City made it business-as-usual as they got their Premier League title defence underway with a comfortable 3-0 win over a brave Burnley side sent to their title rivals as an early warning message.
Last season’s Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland got into the act early and scored with his first touch as the Citizens surged to an early lead, and then bagged his brace with a delightful strike into the top corner.
City added a third goal in the second half courtesy of Rodri before substitute Anass Zaroury was sent off for a brutal tackle on Kyle Walker. City fans were absolutely delighted to see Kevin De Bruyne starting but was unfortunately withdrawn due to an injury-scare.
Meanwhile, the Clarets should be happy with elements of their play and have something to build on for forthcoming matches with boss and former City ace Vincent Kompany taking positives from the match: “I said to the team, you have to get something out of the game.
“Something could be a tackle, it could be one-versus-one or a spell of momentum and chanced. And we got something out of this game and this club will grow.”
The Burnley boss has been speaking to Sky Sports about his first Premier League game as a manager, saying: “I think we have to take the positives from this game. You can’t feel good with a defeat, but we’ve made progress.
“This is the worst this team is going to be. It has to be because this team is focused on progress. Every day this squad wants to progress.”