Haaland Shines As Manchester City Kick-Off 2023-2024 Premier League With Win

Manchester City have kicked off the 2023-2024 Premier League season with a 3-0 win over newly promoted Burnley at Turf Moor.

City’s Pep Guardiola started his best legs in the game but Mateo Kovacic who joined the club this summer from Chelsea, made his way into the game in the 23rd minute to replace Kevin De Bruyne who limped off the pitch with yet to be confirmed injury.

As expected, Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland, who broke the Premier League goalscoring record in his debut season (2022-2023) with 36 league goals, scored two goals in the league’s curtain-raiser.

His first goal in the game came in the 4th minute when De Bruyne lofted a deep cross for Rodri. The midfielder nodded it back across, and the Norway international was waiting to smash it in.

Hence, Haaland became the first player to score in this new season and Rodri became the first player to provide an assist in the new season.

In the 36th minute, Haaland landed his second goal of the game as he received the ball in the box from Alvarez and shot it straight to the post. The ball first kissed the crossbar before it landed in the net.

Manchester City went into the break with a two-goal lead and returned into the second half with more hunger to score more goals.

But this time around, Vincent Kompany’s led Burnley were more organized that they didn’t allow Manchester City to score another goal until the 75th minute when Rodri stamped his authority in the game.

Rodri who provided the assist for the first goal, was in the right place at the right time when Phil Foden’s free-kick landed into Burnley’s penalty box and found the midfielder who smashed home the third goal for Manchester City.

Afterward, both teams couldn’t break through each other defense. But out of frustration for the hosts, Anass Zaroury who was a substitute in the game stretched his right foot high on Walker’s left leg and earned himself a red card in the 4th additional minute.

After a thrilling last minute of the encounter, Manchester City traveled back to the Etihad Stadium with a 3-0 victory.

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