Man City overwhelms undermanned Burnley

Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden each scored twice as Manchester City clobbered Burnley 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Monday.

The match was tainted by a vile incident just post-kickoff, as a plane with a banner that read “White Lives Matter Burnley” flew over the stadium moments after players from both teams took a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

[ MORE: Ben Mee fumes after ‘White Lives Matter’ banner flown ]

Bernardo Silva had two assists and David Silva also scored for City, whose 63 points are 20 back of Liverpool. It wasn’t all good news for City, who lost Sergio Aguero to a first-half injury.

City maxes out at 87 points and plays Chelsea on Thursday before meeting Liverpool on July 2.

[ MORE: New PL TV schedule ]

Liverpool now cannot win the Premier League title with a win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Here are the other dates and how the Reds can claim their first PL era title.

Burnley’s 39 points remain 11th and the Clarets remains three points back of the Europa League places.

MAN CITY – BURNLEY FULL MATCH REPLAY Three things we learned

1. Young Foden continues to show promise: Left-footed. Low. Lethal. Foden’s third Premier League goal was a terrific shot from beyond the arc that left a flying Nick Pope clawing through air.

Foden has 13 goals and 10 assists in 64 first team appearances for Man City and he just turned 20 late last month.

His fourth goal of the season was a terrific bit of Pep-inspired team play.

Just watch the ball movement on this goal by Manchester City. Sublime. #MyPLSummer pic.twitter.com/uOjTszuWPa

— #MyPLSummer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 22, 2020

2. Shorthanded Burnley victim to board errors: The Clarets started with just 17 of the 20 available players available to a match day squad during Project Restart, and five of the players on the bench had no Premier League experience while midfielder Josh Brownhill had one minute and was making his first start since arriving from Bristol City in January. Manager Sean Dyche did not mince words before the game in explaining how short-sighted delays from directors are costing Burnley.

3. City rests up for Chelsea: The fixture list worked out well for Pep Guardiola, who used most of its top choice guys in the win over Arsenal and kept Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan, and Aymeric Laporte rested for Chelsea on Thursday. Liverpool is going to win the league but the question will be whether they are the best team to every do the darn thing. If Liverpool isn’t, it’s likely because City’s 2017-18 team holds the distinction. If City beats Chelsea and then Liverpool, the debate is a lot more interesting even if the Reds go 34-2-2.

Man of the Match

Riyad Mahrez — The Algerian’s incredible goal in the first half was a beauty and his penalty combined with it to give Mahrez 11 goals and 15 assists in 2585 minutes across all competitions. Read more on his extraordinary season here. He left after 60 minutes for Kevin De Bruyne.

Man City – Burnley recap

Burnley adequately stymied City for the first 15 minutes but the hosts should’ve been ahead when David Silva’s pass to Riyad Mahrez was ripped wide by an unwitting and charging Bernardo Silva.

Foden put City ahead with a lethal, low, left-footed strike from beyond the arc that a diving Nick Pope could not reach.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

Mahrez got his goal in stunning fashion, barbecuing Charlie Taylor with a dribble before fizzing a shot past Pope.

Then there was an exit for Sergio Aguero, who was fouled by Ben Mee with a wayward foot in the box. VAR reviewed the non-call before righteously deemed it a penalty.

Aguero couldn’t take it — he was replaced by Gabriel Jesus — so Mahrez smacked the shot past Pope for 3-0.

It was 4-0 just after halftime when Bernardo Silva set up David Silva for another good-lookin goal.

Kevin De Bruyne led the drive for five when his outlet pass led to a tic-tac-toe, right-to-left, with Gabriel Jesus cueing up Foden for the finish.

Leroy Sane entered the match for Foden with 11 minutes to play, his first first team action since injuring his knee in a Community Shield defeat of Liverpool.

[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]

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