Opinion: Burnley end their Etihad goal drought, but gulf in quality to Man City only too evident

Given their horrid record at the Etihad, Burnley, quite understandably, made the short trip to the blue side of Manchester in hope rather than expectation.

There’s a good reason for that too, the statistics of the history of this particular fixture make for grim, grim reading.

The Clarets have now lost their last 13 games against City, scoring in only two of those encounters.

At the Etihad, Burnley’s record is especially poor. Up until Ameen Al-Dakhil’s 93rd-minute consolation goal, the Clarets had conceded an incredible 31 goals without reply.

Since the Etihad opened in 2003, Burnley have shipped 45 goals in 12 games – an average of 3.75 per game. There’s a 6-0 thrown in there alongside four straight 5-0 defeats.

So you can forgive the travelling Burnley fans for getting a little excitable when Al-Dakhil tapped home from virtually on the goalline during the final seconds of the game, as if their side had just clinched a last-gasp equaliser. It made no discernible difference to the result whatsoever, but this is as good as it’s been against City since the late 1990s.

In truth, the game had long been over as a contest. Julian Alvarez scored a quickfire double relatively early into the first-half and from that point onwards City remained in second or third gear, keeping the ball as they do with cigars in their mouths.

Kevin De Bruyne waltzed around the pitch like he owns the place while Pep Guardiola was even able to bring the returning Erling Haaland off the bench with his team already 3-0 up. I mean, how are you supposed to compete with that?!

Some positives

Burnley’s display wasn’t all that bad. Vincent Kompany will be rightfully frustrated with the nature of the goals his side conceded, but he will realise this was men against boys, the gulf in quality was always going to be far too big.

You can do all the right things from a tactical point of view and City will still find a way through. That’s just the reality of the situation.

The Clarets really needed to make City work a bit more for their goals, though. Alvarez was allowed to drift off the back of Hjalmar Ekdal too easily for the first, before being granted acres of space for his second after being picked out by Kevin De Bruyne’s quick and clever free-kick.

The third goal, too, was hugely frustrating, especially the timing of it. Just 25 seconds of the second-half had passed when Rodri picked out the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Whatever had been said at half-time had been rendered completely futile with the first attack of the half.

Both boxes

Aside from that, Burnley’s performance wasn’t too bad. They limited City to just four shots on target and enjoyed some moments of their own at the other end of the pitch.

The Clarets exploited City on the counter on a semi-regular basis. Lyle Foster curled one just wide having previously been played through only to be thwarted by Josko Gvardiol at the final moment, while Zeki Amdouni also fired over when he probably ought to have passed to the unmarked Wilson Odobert.

But as has been the case for a couple of months now, Burnley came out on the wrong side of both boxes. While City were predictably ruthless, the visitors just weren’t able to find that clinical touch. And defensively they were punished for switching off on one too many occasions.

That’s been the story of Burnley’s recent games against the league’s biggest and best teams. They’ve found a way to be competitive and stay in games, but they just don’t have enough to pull a result out of the bag. The gap in quality is just too big.

There were some positives though. David Fofana looked lively making his debut off the bench, playing a crucial role in Al-Dakhil’s late goal, using his pace and power to beat his marker before pulling the ball back into the six-yard box.

It’s occasions like this, a moment of quality out of nothing, that Burnley have badly lacked this season. Against Fulham on Saturday, a moment like that could well be the deciding factor.

Against the reigning champions, one or two moments weren’t going to be anywhere near enough. But at least Burnley kept it relatively respectable, which as we know hasn’t always been the case.

Now or never

As Kompany rightfully said after the game, there’s no point dwelling on this game now. There’s a far more significant fixture at Turf Moor on Saturday to prepare for, one the Clarets must simply win.

The relegation picture is grim, there’s no point shying away from it. A seven-point gap to the ever improving Luton Town is only going to get bigger unless the Clarets pick something up against Fulham this weekend, given title-challenging Liverpool and Arsenal are up next.

We’re well past the stage now where improved performances are of encouragement. Results simply have to follow, or we all know what the end result will be.

It can often be a lazy media trope to use the phrases “must win” and “six pointer” for a game at the beginning of February, but the games are rapidly beginning to run out for the Clarets.

Sitting in 19th on just 12 points from 22 games, it’s now or never for Kompany’s men.