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MOTD: Manchester City 2-2 Burnley

By on December 28, 2014

It’s nothing, then it’s everything: if there should be one takeaway from this weekend of Premier League football, that might be it. Manchester City playing Burnley? That should have been a pushover for the Premier League giants. Maybe in two or three weeks they would face a meaningful match in which they could catch up with Chelsea, because of course Chelsea will beat Southampton – of course. City had been waiting every week for a chance to bridge the gap between them and the Premier League leaders, and knew they had to expect it anytime, but the reality remains they were caught off guard. They rested Yaya Toure for Fernandinho, for one. They were lacking that crucial lethality, and the best and only chance they have had to catch Chelsea to date went begging as a result. In the title race, you know every match has the potential to be a decider, but this weekend offers a fresh reminder. Every point counts, and City lacked the ability title winners must have in grabbing every possible one.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side started without a recognized forward on the pitch, James Milner in a false nine role, and featured a severely weakened side. Not Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, Steven Jovetic, or Edin Dzeko started the match due to injuries. Their chance may have come at just the wrong time, but as title defenders they should have buried those three points nonetheless.

During the first half, everything was going according to plan. City had been dominating, and at the end of a move involving Samir Nasri, David Silva, and Pablo Zabaleta, a group so commonly at the core of City’s attack with Toure and Aguero missing, Silva tucked Zabaleta’s cut-back from the right into the bottom left corner on the net. That was twenty-three minutes in and just seven later Fernandinho teed himself up for a shot twenty yards hit and curled a brilliant cracker in off the crossbar, leaving Tom Heaton without a chance.

But Burnley came back in the second period, and whether it was due to their rally or City’s defensive woes – most likely a mixture of both, one triggered by the other, Burnley found their way back. The first came just a minute into the second half when Danny Ings was given far too much time in the box to turn and fire a cross-shot across the goal, which an offside George Boyd appeared to get a touch on to tap past Joe Hart, though City will have excuses due to the refereeing they were certainly punished for their lax defending. The same applied for Burnley’s equalizer – Eliaquim Mangala failed to get tight on Ashley Barnes as Burnley swung a late free-kick into City’s penalty area, allowing Barnes to slice a volley right into the top left corner. And that was it. With not ten minutes to go, it was relatively easy for Burnley to cling onto their result. It could have been worse for City, as it seemed more of a fluke than anything – bad luck mixed with slack defending – but an ill-timed one nonetheless.
Man of the Match: David Silva

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.