Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan Take Manchester City Top of the Premier League, Burnley Beaten Once Again

Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan Take Manchester City Top of the Premier League, Burnley Beaten Once Again

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:59 PM
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  • Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan guided Manchester City back to the top of the English Premier League
  • Manchester City had to win after Liverpool beat Watford earlier in the day to steal the top spot in the league
  • Burnley have now conceded 34 goals and one scored 1 in their last 10 games against Manchester City

Manchester City went into the game knowing that a win would put them back on top of the English Premier League table.

City played like a side chasing the top spot as they took the lead in the fifth minute of the game. Kevin de Bruyne smashed the ball home from close range after he was found by Raheem Sterling.

Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, Manchester City, English Premier League, Burnley, Soccer, Sport, Football, South Africa
Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan both got on the scoresheet as Manchester City beat Burnley to return to the top of the English Premier League. Image: Matt McNulty/ Victoria Haydn
Source: Getty Images

The finish was by no means easy, but the Belgian made it look simple. City should have scored twice again in the next four minutes as Rodri didn’t make the most of both chances.

Nick Pope saved one while Rodri volleyed the other just wide. City did get their second on 25 minutes as Gündoğan scored with a half-volley. The shot wrong-footed Pope in goal and found its way into the back of the net. City would dominate the remaining 20 minutes but couldn’t get a third.

City started the second half as they finished the first; on the front foot. Cancelo almost made it 3-0 four minutes after the restart but Pope managed to make the save. İlkay Gündoğan went close a minute later and once again Pope was called into action.

Burnley found their feet in the second half a bit more and looked as if they could get a goal. Cornet would have got The Clarets on the scoresheet had it not been for Nathan Aké’s clearance off the line.

Foden and Jesus then went close for City who were desperate to get a third. Jay Rodriguez almost pulled one back for Burnley but Ederson clung onto the ball. With ten minutes to go, Gabriel Jesus had two bites at the cherry to score but failed to score either. His first attempt hit the post and rebounded back to him, and his second shot went just wide.

Tried as they might, Burnley could not claw one back and were defeated at home, 2-0. Manchester City regained the top spot in the English Premier League and next host, Liverpool, in what could be a title-deciding fixture.

English Premier League: Poor finishing Burnley host Manchester City in a top and bottom of the table clash

After a two-week international break, the English Premier League returns to action today. Manchester City, who are currently on top of the table, travel to Turf Moor to take on Burnley, a side that finds itself in the relegation zone. Burnley only have Norwich City behind them but are five points away from safety.

Burnley have only picked up four points from their last five games, losing three in a row at one point. Manchester City hasn’t been perfect either as they dropped points in two of their last five games. Burnley have also been struggling in front of goal of late. In their last three games, they were level at halftime in each of them but went on to lose all three.

They failed to score a single goal in all of those games. Burnley doesn’t have the best track record against City and will have a tough time stopping the defending champions from running riot, Sports Brief earlier reported.

Authors
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Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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