Man City 5 – 0 Burnley. Riyad Mahrez scored his first hat-trick for Man City as they thump Burnley 5 – 0. The Algerian curled two first-half efforts into the corner to ease any concerns about a perceived City scoring drought. Riyad Mahrez scored his first Manchester City hat-trick as Pep Guardiola’s men beat Burnley 5-0 at Etihad Stadium for the fourth time in a row.
Benjamin Mendy drove home Kevin de Bruyne’s cross for his first City goal before half-time and Ferran Torres turned home his first Premier League goal after the break following a brief period of Burnley pressure.
Mahrez steered Pep Guardiola’s side to their biggest win of the season by completing his first treble since scoring all three for Leicester City in a victory at Swansea City in December 2015 as the Foxes marched towards the title.
It could have been worse for visitors Burnley – and their keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who was making his Premier League debut with first-choice Nick Pope missing because of injury.
In addition to De Bruyne slamming a shot against a post in the final minute, Torres and Gabriel Jesus both had goals disallowed for offside – with both having involved major mistakes from the Northern Ireland keeper. Man City’s favourite opponents
With only 10 goals in their opening eight Premier League games and Sergio Aguero missing with a knee injury, it was just as well Burnley were City’s visitors on Saturday.
Guardiola’s side have dominated a number of opponents during the Spaniard’s time England, but the arrival of Sean Dyche’s Clarets at the Etihad is as near a home banker as it is possible to get.
City have now scored 27 times in six matches against Burnley on this ground and once Mahrez had broken the deadlock there was never a chance they would be thwarted.
The visitors simply could not afford the kind of error that saw central defender James Tarkowski get caught out of position close to the touchline after just six minutes, as City swept the ball across the pitch and Mahrez stepped inside to curl home. Riyad Mahrez
Mahrez scored twice against Burnley at home last season
Mahrez also has a particularly liking for Burnley – he has now scored eight times against them.
His second, another well-struck shot that curled in at the far corner, was the first time the Algeria winger had scored two in a game since the corresponding fixture last season.
When left-back Mendy smashed home a superb volley from De Bruyne‘s cross, it was the first time City had scored three in the first half of a game since they hammered Liverpool in July. It was the first time they had scored three at all since their opening game of the season.
These statistics are at odds with previous campaigns, when City have almost scored at will – and Burnley could be forgiven for thinking not much has changed, especially once Torres and Mahrez had converted their second-half efforts.
Now City’s task is to show they can hurt different opposition in the same way.
What next?
Manchester City travel to Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday (20:00 GMT kick-off), while Burnley host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, 5 December (12:30).
Source – BBC News
