Man City - Burnley: Pep Guardiola warned that chance-producing but goal-shy Manchester City would find its finishing boots and “one day break everything.”
Unfortunately for Sean Dyche and Burnley, that day came Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.
Riyad Mahrez scored his Premier League hat trick in five years as Man City battered Burnley 5-0 on Saturday in Manchester.
WATCH MANCHESTER CITY – BURNLEY FULL MATCH REPLAY
Mahrez scored in the sixth, 22nd, and 69th minutes and City had a 3-0 lead at the break on Benjamin Mendy’s first City goal. Ferran Torres also scored and Kevin De Bruyne had two assists as City moved eighth with 15 points.
Burnley is in 17th place on five points through nine matches, its goal-differential a league-worst minus-13 after the loss.
Man City - Burnley wasn’t much of a contest.
Three things we learned from Man City - Burnley
1. Man City’s Algerian attacker amazes: Mahrez’s incredible 2019-20 season form took a bit to reemerge this season, as the Algerian entered the day with a goal and an assist in 870 minutes across all competitions (though he showed some remarkable stuff in his national team shirt earlier this month). Mahrez scored his 58th, 59th, and 60th Premier League goals in this one as City left little doubt about the result from Moment No. 1.
2. Here we go again: Burnley’s reeling response to City going ahead might be coincidence. It could also be down to knowing that Man City has simply battered Burnley over the past few seasons. Including cups, these are the score lines of City’s eight wins over the Clarets since the start of the 2018-19 season: 5-0, 5-0, 1-0, 4-1, 5-0, 3-0, 2-0, 5-0.
3. Twenty-four years for this? Spare a thought for 24-year-old Burnley backstop Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who entered the day with 14 caps for Northern Ireland and zero Premier League starts for the Clarets. Starting in place of the injured Nick Pope, Peacock-Farrell was left out to dry on a number of occasions by City’s remarkable attack.