Manchester City launched their Premier League championship defense with an easy victory at Burnley, thanks to Erling Haaland’s deadly finishing display.
The goalscoring superstar, who scored 52 goals as City won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League last season, required just 185 seconds to open his account for the new season, dealing the newly promoted Clarets a blow from which they never recovered.
Burnley, spurred on by a raucous home crowd, never gave up, but City’s dominance grew more pronounced as the game progressed, with Rodri scoring the third with 15 minutes remaining after the home defense failed to clear a free-kick.
City’s night was only soured by another injury for De Bruyne, who went off after only 23 minutes and was replaced by summer signing Mateo Kovacic.
After a video assistant referee review, Burnley had Anass Zaroury sent out in injury time for a risky lunge on Kyle Walker.
Even though they had a winning start to the season, Manchester City exhibited indications of rust, as evidenced by the heated demeanor of fastidious manager Pep Guardiola.
If goal-scoring machines Haaland anticipated his manager giving him a pat on the back as he left the field at halftime, but he was in for an unpleasant awakening when Guardiola gave him a stern scolding while ordering a cameraman to move out of the way.
Haaland, who displayed his deadly economy by scoring twice from just six touches in the first half, made it obvious that he wanted even more from him.