Guardiola’s ruthless machine hand old favourite Kompany a harsh lesson

M anchester City had won the previous 10 matches against Burnley with an aggregate score of 34-1. All of those games took place against sides managed by Sean Dyche, a very different style of team to the one created by Vincent Kompany but, six goals later, some things never change. The Belgian has turned the Clarets from a dour but efficient team to being exciting and free-wheeling but the reality of what he faces next season became apparent on Saturday night.

Promotion is essentially guaranteed, it would take an almighty demise to give up their 16-point lead on third with a game in hand in the final two months of the season. Their dominance in the league allowed Kompany to pick an almost full-strength team at the Etihad. The fans welcomed him back by serenading their former captain but this was a business event for Kompany.

Unfortunately for Burnley and their manager, hat-trick hobbyist Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne are a few cuts above their usual opponents. The visitors offered the same intensity to what they have given in their 37 league games early on but quickly found out that they needed more than workrate and clever positional play to keep City at bay.

Burnley have scored at a rate of two a game in the Championship, while having the best defence but that counted for nothing. City are liable to a mistake when passing around at the back and the constant pressure of the Burnley forward line ensured they made errors, gifting openings to the Clarets, but they were unable to take advantage when their few opportunities arose.

Stalwarts of the Dyche era, Ashley Barnes, Jack Cork and Charlie Taylor might have been having flashbacks to their Premier League days from the bench as they watched City enjoy 80% possession