Manchester City vs. Burnley: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game

Manchester City threw away the chance to move just a point behind Chelsea at the top of the Premier League as they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with battling Burnley.

George Boyd and Ashley Barnes struck second-half goals to stun the champions, who had appeared to be in complete control of events at the Etihad Stadium following first-half strikes from David Silva and Fernandinho, the second a stunner.

City have a right to feel aggrieved about Boyd's strike just after half-time—as he appeared to be in an offside position—but they really can have no excuse for such a careless tossing away of two vital points. 

Meanwhile, Burnley will feel delighted that their recent efforts against some of the bigger sides in the division have finally yielded some reward.

Here are some winners and losers from what you might well call a typically unpredictable Premier League match.

Winners: Burnley

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We'll get to the title race later, but first and foremost this has to be considered a huge success for Burnley, who improved dramatically in front of goal in comparison to recent outings against Tottenham and Liverpool.

In those matches, a lack of quality let them down on the way to one-goal defeats, but they showed composure in front of goal in the second half here as they improbably came back from their 2-0 half-time deficit.

Their point isn't enough to lift them out of the relegation zone, but it will raise confidence and belief ahead of more winnable matches in January.

Losers: Manchester City

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They still won the league in the end—so perhaps we shouldn't be too harsh on them—but this sort of result was reminiscent of the carelessness City showed at times last season.

The difference between that campaign and this is they are up against a pretty ruthless Chelsea team this time around. And on a day when the Blues dropped points in a draw at Southampton, this was the perfect chance to make a huge statement against one of the lesser lights in the league.

City blew it.

Winners: Chelsea

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In fact, it turned into a pretty good day for Jose Mourinho and his side.

Chelsea would have wanted to win at St. Mary's Stadium, of course, but in the end a point away to one of the better sides in the division having fallen behind early on was OK.

Their recent fixture list hasn't been as kind as City's, and so being three points clear at the top is healthy place to be right now.

Loser: Manuel Pellegrini

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Had City won, they would have set a new club record of 10 victories on the bounce, and that coupled with the fact that Yaya Toure is off to the African Cup of Nations soon made it a strange decision from Manuel Pellegrini to rest his Ivorian powerhouse.

Without Sergio Aguero or indeed a recognised forward of any kind from the start, the goal threat was severely reduced.

Playing Toure wouldn't have solved everything that went wrong in the second half, but it would at least have added dynamism to a midfield that looked a little pedestrian.

Winners: Burnley's Midfield

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Indeed, the key reason behind Burnley's dramatic improvement in the second period was because their midfield stopped being so passive.

Dean Marney, David Jones, Scott Arfield and George Boyd showed a willingness to get forward and beyond both Danny Ings and Ashley Barnes. If anything, that seemed to stun a City side that had grown used to having their own way.

This was the fifth time in a row Sean Dyche had named an unchanged XI, and as was proven in the recent narrow defeats he certainly seems to have got the makeup of his team right.

Now they've finally got something to show for it.

Loser: James Milner

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James Milner was replaced by Stevan Jovetic after 62 minutes, and with that should really come an end to the experiment of playing the England man as a false No. 9.

He was as industrious as ever, of course, but if anything City missed his influence on the game further back as the aforementioned Burnley midfield took hold of the game.

Milner really shouldn't play with his back to goal, and as long as Jovetic can stay fit (which is often a tough ask for him), then the Montenegrin should start against Sunderland on New Year's Day.