For those who feel the Barclays Premier League is becoming too predictable at the top end, it is always worth hanging around for Christmas. There is a reason the English continue to chase leather in the cold while the rest of Europe holidays at this time of year and, here at a rather flabbergasted Etihad Stadium, was it.
Two goals to the good at half-time after strikes from David Silva and Fernandinho, Manuel Pellegrini’s team emerged for the second period aware that Chelsea had dropped two points at Southampton and that a tenth successive win in all competitions would take to them to within a point of their great modern rivals.
Ten wins on the spin. That hadn’t happened to City since 1921. Remarkably, it wasn’t to be either.
A rather odd Burnley goal soon after the second half began gave the Lancashire club some hope. Whether it will be attributed to Danny Ings or George Boyd is not yet clear but what we do know is that Joe Hart should have saved it.
For the City goalkeeper, it was a mistake as poor as it was poorly-timed. Had City shown the mark of defending champions, they may have rendered it rather irrelevant.
Pellegrini’s players began to look rather leggy as the game wore on, though, and Burnley emerged as the stronger team. Ashley Barnes drove in the equaliser with a certainty and conviction City lacked with ten minutes to go and the English champions’ big opportunity had gone.
City actually led from the 23rd minute and were two ahead shortly after the half hour mark. That, however, didn’t necessarily tell the whole story of the opening period. The first half, as it turned out, was to hold several portents for the game as a whole.
No comments:
Post a Comment