Manchester City climbed back above Leicester City, temporarily at least, to second in the table and closed the gap on Liverpool at the top by beating Burnley 4 - 1 at Turf Moor. It was an impressive win in which the visitors comprehensively out-passed the home side, and dealt with the physical threat posed by Burnley in an intelligent fashion.
They also dealt with the inconvenience of finding the away dressing room shrouded in darkness on their arrival at the ground after an electrical failure, enlisting the help of a visiting TV crew to provide light.
City took the lead in the 24th minute when David Silvas pass found Brazilian Gabriel Jesus on the left-hand edge of the penalty box. The forward opened up his body and sent a curling shot that started well outside the goal, into the opposite corner. He then added a second five minutes after half-time when Kevin de Bruyne found Bernardo Silva on the right flank, and he crossed to the back post for Jesus to get ahead of his marker, and volley home.
By this time, City were in cruising, passing through the Burnley lines at will, and they put the result beyond doubt in the 59th minute when David Silvas shot on the edge of the area was charged down, only for Spanish midfielder Rodri to meet the ball on the half-volley, and send a swerving shot crashing into the net beyond the despairing dive of the Burnley keeper Nick Pope.
Substitute Riyad Mahrez added a fourth three minutes from time, collecting the ball in central midfield, advancing towards the opposition box before, unusually for him, opting to shoot with his right foot, finding the bottom corner with unerring accuracy.
The only blot on the City copybook was the consolation of a late goal to Burnley substitute Robbie Brady, who scored when too many City defenders were attracted towards the ball on the left-hand side, leaving him free to rifle home from 10 yards.
It was a much needed win for City who have been stuttering recently, winning just one of their previous five matches in all competitions prior to this contest.
