Man City up to second as Alvarez brace sinks Burnley

MANCHESTER, England : Julian Alvarez celebrated his 24th birthday with two goals as Manchester City cruised to a 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to climb to second in the Premier League table.

It was a stroll for the champions as Rodri added a third goal to ensure a 13th win in a row against Burnley, during which time City have scored 46 goals and conceded two. Ameen Al Dakhil netted a late consolation for the visitors.

Pep Guardiola's side moved to 46 points from 21 games, two behind leaders Liverpool, who play Chelsea later on Wednesday. Burnley are second bottom and seven points from safety having played a game more than Luton Town in 17th.

City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne made his first start for City since the opening day of the season and striker Erling Haaland came off the bench for the final 20 minutes after missing the previous 10 games due to injury.