It wasn’t spectacular but Manchester City went top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win at Turf Moor – a result which knocked title-rivals Arsenal off the summit and relegated Burnley back to the Championship.
Pep Guardiola’s side now lead Arsenal on goals scored, having found the net three times more this season – but will head home kicking themselves for not creating a significant goal-difference advantage with their 28 shots.
City had been brilliant on Sunday, winning their thriller with Arsenal at the Etihad to seize the title-race momentum. But they were left hanging on in the final seconds here, with Guardiola letting his frustration show through an underwhelming and at times tense second half. His celebrations at full-time were full of relief – although Erling Haaland insisted to Sky Sports the win is all that mattered.
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Erling Haaland’s cool finish sees Manchester City in front at Burnley.
It had started ominously for Burnley and Arsenal. Haaland had stormed through to score the opener after just five minutes and Rayan Cherki had already seen a shot pushed onto the bar by then. Haaland would go on to strike the woodwork himself later in the game, too.
But the second goal didn’t come, with Nico O’Reilly missing perhaps their best chance to grab another goal right at the death, miscuing from close range. City’s intensity fizzled out after their fast start and this was not the full-throttle performance many were expecting.
However, the win does mean that, for the first time since the first week of the season, City are back on top of the pile and they are in pole position to claim the title with five games remaining.
In contrast, the result confirmed Burnley – who have won just one of their last 25 league games – will be joining Wolves in the second tier next season. They posted a huge 100 points to win promotion from the Championship in 2024/25 but have been unable to cope with the step up.
This was a valiant effort and they could easily have given their long-suffering home fans something to cheer had Jaidon Anthony, Quilindschy Hartman and Zian Flemming not spurned good chances. Their fate, though, has been clear for some time.
How City’s season will finish up is far less certain.
Arsenal – perhaps galvanised by City’s flat display – play twice in the Premier League before City go to Everton on Monday May 4, live on Sky Sports. Mikel Arteta’s side will hope to wrestle some momentum back in a title race they led for so long.
More immediately, City’s attentions now turn to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Southampton at Wembley. With the Carabao Cup already secured, the odds of another domestic treble for City and Guardiola are tumbling – but they will need to re-find their zip and spark if they are to make this a special finale.
Guardiola: Why should I be frustrated?
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Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola reflected on their win against Burnley, which secured them the top spot in the Premier League.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola to Sky Sports:
“The chances were there, we created a lot. Made a fantastic game. We did everything after a demanding game three days ago. So it was demanding. It wasn’t easy. We missed some goals here. No frustration. Why should I be frustrated? We are right now top of the table. Frustration doesn’t exist.
“Of course, we can do better and score goals. The guys did absolutely everything, we just didn’t score [more]. Nothing was taken for granted, we did really well.”
Was the performance not as strong because of being drained from Sunday? “I completely disagree. We had better performances in terms of chances, chances, chances than on Sunday. Of course, the opponent of Arsenal is extraordinary. We know that. The performance itself was really, really good.
“Five games. It’s the Premier League for five games. This is the reality. Now we have a really tough semi-final on Saturday.
“It’s a big opportunity to play four finals in a row. We will see how tired we are. Maybe we have to make some changes because otherwise, it’s been a lot of minutes for players. At the end, we were a little bit tired. But we are ready.”
Neville: Man City need to play better, or they will drop points
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville:
“It’s a win for Manchester City. But it’s the best win Arsenal could have hoped for. One nil.
“It’s all to play for. Arsenal have a home game against Newcastle on Saturday where they can reassert their three-point lead.
“It didn’t happen for Manchester City tonight. They will have to play better than that or they will drop points.
“But Pep Guardiola knows he had to come away with three points. And he’s done that.
“Sadness for Burnley. A great football club. They just can’t stay in the Premier League. They keep going up and down. Up and down.”
Parker: We weren’t deadly enough
Burnley head coach Scott Parker to Sky Sports:
“Overall, just on this performance, immensely proud of the team. The situation we’ve been in, the level of the challenge against a team who’s been formidable, going down an early goal really could have derailed us.
“I thought everything we spoke about before in terms of togetherness, spirit and certainly at times the quality as well – we had our opportunities. We didn’t manage to take them tonight. Two or three opportunities would come and we need to be clinical. We had a few more than that.
“The failure for us, the criticism for us is we weren’t deadly enough, which you need against a team like Man City. But it was a team that left everything on the pitch really.”
Story of the match in stats
What’s coming up?
Man City are next in action on Saturday in a FA Cup semi-final with Southampton at Wembley. Their next Premier League game comes at Everton on Monday May 4.
Burnley have the weekend off before going to Leeds on Friday May 1.
