3️⃣ points after Man City cruise to victory over Burnley | OneFootball

Manchester City got back to winning ways in the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Burnley on Saturday.

Here’s our three points on the action from the Etihad …

City aren’t so bad after all

Cast your mind back to last week, and there was a lot of gloom surrounding Manchester City.

That 2-0 defeat at Tottenham highlighted their two biggest flaws so far this season. They are too easy to play through, and they’re struggling to score goals.

But fast forward seven days and things are looking much rosier for Pep Guardiola’s side. They’re through to the knockout stages of the Champions League and more importantly, the goals are starting to flow again.

Not that we should read too much into this result against a Burnley side who didn’t turn up, but it was a timely reminder that City are a joy to watch when they want to be.

They’re six points behind Liverpool with a game in hand now. Maybe they won’t have enough to win the title again this year, but they’re still well and truly in the hunt.

Riyad Mahrez isn’t terrible either

Mahrez has probably been City’s most frustrating player to watch this season and many have questioned whether the Algerian’s languid style of play is well suited to a team who are at their best when they put their pedal to the metal.

But Mahrez silenced his critics with a trio of very well taken goals here and if he can find some form in the coming weeks, he might still have a very important role to play in this side after all.

It was a good day for the boo boys, actually, with Benjamin Mendy also playing very well and scoring his first ever goal for the club, while John Stones was a commanding presence alongside Rúben Dias at the back.

This season’s title will be won by whichever club can manage the hectic fixture schedule the best and after Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp raged on BT Sport after his side lost another player to injury, Guardiola was able to make use of the best squad in the league to pick up a much-needed three points.

Burnley are in big trouble

The visitors were never expected to get anything here and their dreadful record at the Etihad has never given much indication of where they are as a team.

But in the context of their season so far, this was a very worrying display by Sean Dyche’s side.

The game was effectively over when Mahrez opened the scoring after six minutes and Burnley didn’t begin their fightback until the second half, when they were already 3-0 down.

It doesn’t really look like these players are fighting for Dyche any more and you have to wonder whether he’s taken the club as far as he can.

Burnley are hovering precariously above the relegation zone having scored just four goals all season and if Sheffield United, Fulham or West Brom get their act together at any point, relegation is a serious possibility for the Clarets.