1City rue missed chances
Such has been our dominance in the majority of matches this season, it was disappointing to come away from Turf Moor without the three points having entered the final 10 minutes of the match in front.
Much of City’s play, as Pep Guardiola pointed out afterwards, was good. We moved the ball well and with purpose, and, for an hour of the game, were in total control.
But, crucially, we fell short of our usual high standard in the final third. Raheem Sterling’s miss from four yards with a gaping goal at his mercy was a pivotal moment with City 1-0 ahead, but he wasn’t the only one guilty of profligacy. City’s final ball wasn’t what we’ve come to expect and, for that reason, we couldn’t turn our dominance into a win.
“When we arrived for the last action for a pass, a one-against-one or to dribble against the central defender and shoot, we were not able to do that,” Guardiola said afterwards. It was a frank and accurate assessment from the boss.
2Ederson heroics
The signing of the summer?
Ederson’s impact since signing from Benfica in June has been sensational and the Brazilian was at his brilliant best against Burnley: outstanding in possession and producing two genuinely world-class saves that were crucial in securing a point.
He completed more passes than any Burnley player and was calmness personified when he had the ball at his feet. Burnley’s forwards would try and close him down in a bid to unnerve him and force a mistake, but he remained unflappable, consistently finding a blue shirt and starting City attacks from deep.
There are very few goalkeeper who can match his ball-playing ability.
But it was his two saves – one from Ben Mee and the other from Aaron Lennon – that will be remembered from this game. Both from point-blank range and both stopping what looked to be certain goals.
“I think that you judge a good goalkeeper not by the amount of saves he makes but the importance of the ones he saves,” Vincent Kompany said afterwards.
“Today there were a couple of chances where we lost the second ball for some reason and to have him make the save just shows what a tremendous player he is to have in your squad.”
He’s a phenomenon and we’re lucky to have him.
3Bernardo’s influence growing
Bernardo has now started four consecutive matches for City and his influence is clearly growing.
By his own admission, it’s taken the Portuguese playmaker some time to adapt to English football but he is beginning to show us his quality on a regular basis.
He teed up Danilo for the full-back’s 25-yard screamer into the top corner and has now been directly involved in 10 goals in his last 15 appearances in all competitions for City (3 goals, 7 assists).
4Record
City have the best-ever points total after 26 games of a top-flight season in English football.
That is a remarkable achievement and Pep and all the players deserve huge credit for what they have accomplished this season.
5Time to rest
We now have a rare full week without a game and Guardiola plans to give the players three full days away from the CFA to rest and recover.
It’s been an intense season. City’s involvement in all four competitions means our schedule has been heavy, so some time away to forget about football is just what is needed.
Then it’s back to training as we prepare for take on Leicester in the late kick-off next Saturday.
