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Manchester City beat Burnley on opening day: De Bruyne Injured, Halland scored twice

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Manchester City opened their 2023-24 Premier League campaign with a win against Burnler (0-3) at Turf Moor. Halland scored a brace, De Bruyne had to be substituted due to an injury.

Burnley tried to put the Blues under pressure early on, but City quickly took the lead thanks to none other than Erling Haaland, who stabbed home from close range.

After Haaland’s fast goal, the Clarets took control of the match and perhaps should have tied the score through Luca Koleosho, but the teenager’s close-range shot flew far above the crossbar.

However, a quick City counterattack was finished off by yet another Haaland goal from inside the box to extend the Champions’ advantage before halftime, meaning it would not be for Burnley.

After the break, City had an easy time of it while Burnley struggled to get their visitors out of second gear. After holding the ball for a while, City eventually scored their third goal through Rodri, who tapped in from close range following a flurry in the Burnley box.

Anass Zaroury was sent off during the extra time when he made a clumsy foul on Kyle Walker.


Nobody was surprised when Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the visitors in the opening four minutes of the game. The Norwegian’s goal was the first to appear on the scoresheet for the 23/24 season. In the final ten minutes of the half, the forward scored twice to double City’s lead.

Erling Haaland became only the second player to score 2+ goals in a team’s opening game in consecutive seasons (two vs West Ham in 2022-23), along with Didier Drogba in 2009-10 (two vs Hull) and 2010-11 (three vs West Brom) for Chelsea. He set a new league record with 36 goals last season, and he’s off to a perfect start this year.

Kevin De Bruyne Injured

Manchester City have been hit by injury on the starting day of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign. Erling Haaland’s two goals gave the Blues a quick 2-0 lead, but City’s mood quickly worsened as their star player Kevin De Bruyne was forced to leave the game due to an injury.

The Belgian supposedly tore his hamstring against Inter Milan in the 2022–23 Champions League final, but he miraculously returned to the team for the first weekend of the Premier League. However, his night was short-lived as he was replaced by newcomer Mateo Kovai following a medical checkup.

Starting Lineups

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Lewis, Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Alvarez, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Kovačić, Grealish, Laporte, Gómez, Gvardiol, Palmer, McAtee


Josko Gvardiol will have to wait for his first Premier League start for Manchester City. The Croatian international defender, who cost the club £77.6 million from RB Leipzig, was absent from the Community Shield loss against Arsenal on Sunday at Wembley and sat on the bench with the Substitutes tonight.

Ruben Dias and John Stones are both missing from the Treble winner’s team to Turf Moor, but Gvardiol is among the substitutes and not immediately inserted into the starting eleven.

For the visitors, Rico Lewis gets the start at left-back in place of some of Pep’s more seasoned squad members, while Phil Foden enters the lineup with Jack Grealish on the bench. Erling Haaland, who is seeking to capitalize on his outstanding debut season in England, will lead the line.


Burnley: Trafford, Al-Dakhil, O’Shea, Beyer, Vitinho, Koleosho, Berge, Redmond, Cullen, Foster, Amdouni

Subs: Muric, Cork, Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Benson, Redmond, Ekdal, Zaroury, Larsen

Vincent Kompany became the first Belgian manager to lead a Premier League team. No Burnley manager has ever led the Clarets to victory in their opening match in a competition. Burnley had a busy summer after winning the Championship the previous year. The Clarets will line up for the first game as shown above.

Kompany Returns to Manchester City

Given his 11 great years as a player at the Etihad between 2008 and 2019, Clarets manager Vincent Kompany is unquestionably a Club legend. City, of course, need not be reminded of his stature or influence.

After departing from City in May 2019, Kompany went on to have a stellar management career, first with Anderlecht in his native Belgium and most recently at Turf Moor.

After taking over at Burnley in the summer of 2022 after they were relegated from the Premier League, Kompany successfully led the Clarets back to the top flight with the help of assistant manager Craig Bellamy, another old City favorite. Burnley finished the season 10 points ahead of second place and easily captured the Championship.

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