Burnley, April 23 (IANS) Manchester City moved top of the Premier League table for the first time since August with a narrow 1-0 victory over Burnley.
While City climb to the summit to end Arsenal’s 200 day-stint at the top, as a result the Clarets are relegated.
The winning goal came after just five minutes with Erling Haaland grabbing his 35th goal of the campaign, but despite numerous opportunities, the Blues had to settle for a narrow, but thoroughly deserved win.
With only four minutes played, a move involving Bernardo Silva, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki saw the latter fire what seemed a certain goal, only for Martin Dubravka to push his effort onto the crossbar.
A minute later and the Blues were ahead after a wonderful turn and threaded pass from Jeremy Doku set Haaland clear and the Norwegian kept his cool to calmly lift the ball over Dubravka to reward a whirlwind start.
But the alarm bells were ringing on seven minutes when Quilindschy Hartman looked certain to equalise with the Clarets exploiting space in the City box, but a fine, last-ditch Abdukodir Khusanov block saved the day.
The Blues were bossing the majority of possession, but too many loose passes saw attacks fizzle out and the next big chance fell for Zian Flemming who wasted a good opportunity by screwing his shot well wide.
The pattern continued after the break, with City dominating but unable to find the net.
A powerful burst from Semenyo saw the ball fall to Haaland 15 yards out and his low shot kissed the outside of the left post before the hour-mark.
On 69 minutes, an interchange between Cherki and Marc Guehi ended with a low cross that Haaland was a whisker away from connecting with from six yards out.
Nico O’Reilly had a terrific chance to end the game as a contest in the closing minutes from a few yards out, but City saw the game out and ultimately got the win.
“The chances were there. We made a fantastic game. We did everything after a demanding game three days ago. We made a really good goal, but yeah we missed some chances. The guys did absolutely everything. Nothing is for granted. We’re there and we did really well,” said Man City manager Pep Gaurdiola.
–IANS
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