If much of the world is hoping for a day when things return to the way they were, normal service resumed for Manchester City. A strangely goal-shy side of late consigned their barren spell to the past. For them, 5-0 thrashings of Burnley are habitual and their last four meetings at the Etihad have all ended in the same remarkable but routine scoreline.
Scorers of a mere five goals in their previous six league games, City matched that tally in an afternoon. Last season’s centurions savoured a reminder of what they were.
“We had lots of chances in every game,” said Pep Guardiola. The difference this time? “We converted.”
For Riyad Mahrez, the floodgates opened in spectacular fashion: after two months without a club goal, he scored a maiden City hat-trick. “We saw him sharp in the last few days,” added Guardiola.
Factor in a first goal for the club for Benjamin Mendy and a first in the Premier League for Ferran Torres and City did not require the injured Sergio Aguero, who had a minor setback but who should be able to train on Sunday, or the rested Raheem Sterling, to return to their dominant, prolific best.
“We can win with bigger margins which is good but I'm not expecting to win by lots all the time,” added Guardiola.
But a team who have set many a historical marker added another. Notts County were the only English side who have won four consecutive home games against another club by five goals, hammering Port Vale between 1893 and 1907. Now they have company.
Guardiola did not get carried away but a rout offered much to relish. A majestic Kevin de Bruyne created two goals even before a perfect pass led, albeit indirectly, to Mahrez’s third.
It was the Algerian’s seventh goal in six games against Burnley and three classy finishes suggested his confidence was unaffected by a personal drought.
The last time Mahrez had scored, against Leicester in September, was also the previous occasion City mustered more than one goal on Premier League duty.
Riyad Mahrez (2) now has more Premier League hat-tricks than Cristiano Ronaldo (1).
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 28, 2020
But Burnley presented ideal opponents; deprived of three of their four senior specialist central midfielders, who were all injured, and veering away from their beloved 4-4-2 for once, they included Josh Benson, whose only previous league football came for Grimsby.
The irritating element for Burnley was that they were complicit in their downfall. “We didn’t turn up in the first half,” admitted manager Sean Dyche.
“You come up with a gameplan as a manager and it is almost dismantled from the off. It was the same story. We have made mistakes and they have capitalised.”
A stalwart was culpable. Flawless in victory over Crystal Palace on Monday, James Tarkowski coughed up possession for the opener, with De Bruyne releasing Mahrez to slot a shot in.
Then their defence switched off for the second, allowing Mahrez to emerge unchecked to meet Kyle Walker’s throw. He darted past two defenders before whipping in a shot off the far post. Bailey Peacock-Farrell, whose Premier League bow came in the place of the injured Nick Pope, was beaten twice before he had made a save. That first stop spared him embarrassment, as De Bruyne tried to lob him from 50 yards.
He was beaten three more times. “The team has got to operate better in front of him,” added Dyche.
Normally Mendy’s overlapping runs lead to crosses, but he ended a three-year wait for a City goal in some style by volleying in from De Bruyne’s curling cross and beating Peacock-Farrell at his near post. “We switched off,” Dyche rued.
Then, teed up by Gabriel Jesus, Torres scored his first Premier League goal with his final touch before being substituted. Phil Foden replaced him and his first contribution was to race on to De Bruyne’s wonderful, defence-splitting pass and cross for Mahrez to convert; headed goals are sufficiently rare that this was his favourite.
City also had two ‘goals’ disallowed, one sparing Peacock-Farrell an unfortunate own goal, and De Bruyne hammered a shot against the post.
“The goals are not important,” Guardiola nonetheless said. Meanwhile, a City defence without Aymeric Laporte kept a clean sheet. Ederson saved Jay Rodriguez’s stinging shot but otherwise had a quiet afternoon. This was the normality he and City craved.
