Izuchukwu Okosi
Manchester City started their defence of the Premier League title with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.
Last season’s top scorer Erling Haaland scored with his first touch of the ball in four minutes as he swept the ball home from a Rodri’s header inside the Burnley’s vital area.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe goal came exactly in three minutes and four seconds making it the quickest goal on the opening day since Paul Pogba netted for Manchester United against Leicester City in 2018/19.
Haaland found the net again in the 36th minute with an emphatic finish into the top left corner after Julian Alvarez had teed him up in the penalty area.
Having also hit a brace at West Ham United on the opening weekend last season, Haaland became only the second player to score two or more goals in a team’s first match of a Premier League season in consecutive campaigns, after Didier Drogba in 2009/10 and 2010/11.
Rodri then put the icing on the cake 15 minutes from time when he netted from close range, both scoring and assisting in a league match for the first time ever, in his 236th appearance.
Burnley were reduced to 10 men late on when Anass Zaroury was sent off for serious foul play after a bad tackle on Kyle Walker, with a straight red card being given following a VAR review.
The only thing that will have put a dampener on Man City’s victory was an injury to Kevin De Bruyne, who lasted just 23 minutes before having to go off.
Guardiola told the media after the first Premier League of the new season that the Belgian had suffered a hamstring problem in the “same place and position” as the injury that forced him off in the UEFA Champions League, and that the midfielder will be “out for a while.”
De Bruyne himself expressed a bit of surprise pre match that he was selected for the game and highlighted the fact that the players had only a limited time off season to rest after a tough season.
The new City captain, following the departure of Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona played less than 30 minutes of football during City’s pre season campaign.
The Belgian was a second half substitute in last Sunday’s Community Shield game against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
