Burnley vs. Manchester City: Score and Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

A Sergio Aguero brace saw Manchester City come from behind to secure a gritty 2-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday in the Premier League. 

The hosts surged into the lead after 14 minutes thanks to a stunning long-range volley from Dean Marney, but Aguero levelled things up before half-time with an opportunistic finish.

City took the lead after an hour, with Aguero in the right place at the right time again to divert Fernandinho's cross past Burnley goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who replaced the injured Tom Heaton in goal for the home side.

This result sees the Manchester club temporarily move to the top of the table, with Liverpool and Chelsea to play later in the day.

City manager Pep Guardiola took the bold decision to leave David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne on the bench for this one. And in the early stages, the visitors badly missed the creative influence of both.

Burnley, by contrast, flew out of the traps, keeping their illustrious opponents pinned back with intelligent, direct football. It didn’t take the Clarets long to snatch a deserved goal, and it was some strike from Marney.

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A long free-kick broke to the midfielder on the edge of the box, and he thumped a brilliant volley past Claudio Bravo from 25 yards to send Turf Moor wild. As noted by the Match of the Day Twitter feed, it’s been a long time coming for Marney:

The visitors were stunned, and while they kept possession after falling behind, there was little incision to their attacking patterns.

As the half rolled on, the visitors improved, and Yaya Toure gave the home side a big scare when he slapped a shot against the post from the edge of the box. It was a warning they didn’t heed, as City pressure started to build.

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And for all the silky football City have played under Guardiola, it was a scrappy equaliser. Raheem Sterling’s corner found its way through a mass of bodies to the back post, and Aguero was on hand to prod home in the 37th minute. This statistic from OptaJoe summed up just how prolific the Argentina man is in front of goal:

Aguero came close to putting City ahead before the break, but Robinson palmed his strike away. At the interval, both sides would have felt some sense of satisfaction with the first period.

Following half-time, there seemed to be more assurance about the way the visitors approached the game, with Aguero proving an elusive presence for the Burnley defence. On the hour-mark, he escaped the attentions of them once again after another scramble in the area.

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Eventually, Fernandinho smuggled the ball across goal, and it ricocheted off the City No. 10 to put the visitors ahead. As noted by ESPN FC’s Miguel Delaney, the defending from the hosts left much to be desired in the buildup: 

Burnley, to their credit, didn’t let their heads drop after falling behind and continued to give the City defence some tough questions to answer. At the other end, Aguero thought he’d put the match beyond all doubt with 20 minutes remaining, chipping the ball over Robinson after being played through on goal, but he was flagged offside.

City never looked assured in their late defensive work—Bravo looked especially shaky under the high ball—as the Clarets went direct in their attempts to secure an equaliser. However, the centre-back pairing of Nicolas Otamendi and Aleksandar Kolarov held firm to secure the team's provisional spot at the summit of the table.

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Given Burnley's excellent home record and City's midweek UEFA Champions League exertions, this was always going to be a testing afternoon for Guardiola and his players. But after falling behind to a moment of magic, they dug in and found a way back into the game.

The two goals Aguero netted may not be the most stylish he's scored in a City shirt, but they could prove significant come the end of the campaign. The striker's brace means all tied to the Etihad Stadium club can relax for the remainder of the weekend, with the pressure shifted onto their title rivals.

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Afterwards, Guardiola insisted he didn't mind that Aguero's goals were scruffy. "It counts the same!" he told BT Sport (h/t the Manchester Evening News). "Today was brilliant—he played really well. He moved well. He had a really, really good game."

Captain for the day Fernandinho hailed the fighting spirit of the team to turn this one around. "We turned it around and fortunately we scored two goals and won today," said the Brazilian, per the same source. "I think that’s the spirit. If you want to be champions, you have to play this kind of game like this."