Manchester City swiftly regain Premier League advantage with win at Burnley

Manchester City’s stay in second was brief indeed. Knocked off the top of the table by Liverpool, they returned there with the minimum of fuss.

City can feel natural frontrunners in title races and, once again, they have an advantage. It was earned with unflustered excellence.

If victory at Burnley was impressive simply because, for the first time since December, City kicked off anywhere other than first in the standings, it was also admirable because of the sheer speed with which they dismantled their hosts.

Kevin de Bruyne set City on the road to victory, marking his 200th Premier League appearance for them with a fifth-minute goal. Ilkay Gundogan doubled the lead and that, really, was that. The second half was a soporific affair, but City rendered it simple by sealing victory before Liverpool had left Anfield. “We don’t speak much about our contenders to be champions,” said Pep Guardiola. A message was nevertheless sent.

It had to be. “Hopefully Liverpool is going to lose against us; apart from that I don’t think they drop points,” Guardiola said. “We have to live this pressure.”

They seemed to savour it. In a clash between the division’s stylistic opposites, Guardiola’s purists against Sean Dyche’s pragmatists, the passers prevailed. Rodri gave City a platform to play in midfield, Joao Cancelo exerted an influence on the left and they kept getting midfield runners forward.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling impressed against Burnley. AP

Both of their goals were slick moves, with Burnley opened up with ease. The surprise, perhaps, was that there weren’t more: as Burnley have lost their last 10 games against City while scoring once and conceding 34 goals, letting in only two may have felt a bonus.

Nevertheless,