IRELAND DEFENDER KEVIN Long scored an own goal on Saturday afternoon as Manchester City swept Burnley aside to maintain their fight for silverware on four fronts with a 5-0 FA Cup fourth-round triumph.
Pep Guardiola described talk of City winning the quadruple as “fantasy”, but it remains an attainable achievement for his side at the end of a week in which they reached the EFL Cup final.
Tougher tests will await than that presented by Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with the visitors undone by a first-half strike from the in-form Gabriel Jesus and one apiece after the break from Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, the latter being the pick of the bunch.
City also won October’s Premier League fixture here 5-0 and Sean Dyche’s side succumbed to the same fate as Long’s own goal and Sergio Aguero’s penalty completed the rout.
The most notable action of the first 12 minutes saw Kyle Walker break a corner flag as he attempted to deliver a cross, leading to a delay in the action as a replacement was sourced.
City should have taken the lead in the next attack, De Bruyne’s cross skidding underneath the outstretched leg of the onrushing Jesus.
Silva was next to come close as his side-footed effort was well kept out by an alert Nick Pope, who first parried then caught a subsequent strike from Danilo.
Having snapped the flagstick, Walker’s next target was Steven Defour, the England full-back receiving a yellow card for his mistimed challenge on the Belgian.
The breakthrough followed soon after as Jesus cut in from the left side of the area and finished with confidence past Pope for his eighth goal in five matches.
Burnley wasted a glorious opportunity to equalise within three minutes of the restart when Nicolas Otamendi was caught in possession, but Matej Vydra fired wide with only Ederson to beat.
Dyche’s men paid the price when Silva’s deflected shot doubled City’s lead after collecting a pass from De Bruyne, who then lashed in the goal of the match from 25 yards out.
A fine outing from De Bruyne was capped when his cross was turned into his own net by Long, whose mix-up with Pope led to the spot-kick from which Aguero converted.
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You liat the KO at 14:30…. isn’t it 15:00? I’m booked in for a full head of highlights at 1 and won’t make a half 2 kick off……
@Bungee Aky: no it’s been changed to 2:30! You’d wanna tell the hairdresser to get a move on
@Boo Radley: you can’t rush perfection
Anybody got an update on the Bill Johnston move to Ulster? Asking for a friend.
@Jim Demps: is your friend Rochelle?
@Bungee Aky: don’t be silly Rochelle has no friends
@Jim Demps: is it a case of use it or lose it.
@Chris Mc: I’m all for it, hope it’s happening. It’d be a great move for him, Ulster and for munster.
@Jim Demps: I’m not sure how it’s good for munster but he does need rugby at this stage.
@Chris Mc: no point in having a 28, 26, 23 and 22 year old all vying for the same position. If Johnston moves on we’ve got a good balance there. At the moment with carbery the same age as him Johnston isn’t going to be given a fair chance so a move will suit him. For munster they can break in Ben Healy and give him the exposure as a young talent. It’s too easy for people to look at Johnston and say he was never given a chance but you can’t ignore his injuries. Two dislocated shoulders and a broken leg for a 22 year old is an awful lot of injuries and it’s bound to slow down his progression. Van Graan has shown that he will give young talent the chance it needs and I’d expect that to continue.
@Jim Demps: fair enough.
@Jim Demps: ‘exposure as a young talent’
When are you going to see what happens at Munster??
@Andrew H: I see it every game I go to Andrew. I’ve seen wycherley, loughman, Shane Daly, Gavin Coombes, o Connor and more all excel. You’re just using Bill Johnston as a tired old excuse to beat munster with. Too easy to compare young lads to Ryan and larmour, once in a generation talents who have as much international as club games under their belt. Try comparing them to their peers, Conor o brien to goggin, josh Murphy to wycherley, abdaladze to loughman and the picture might be a bit clearer for you.
2:30pm? My ticket says 3pm
@Thomyk: game will be over by then and Munsters season finished.
@Bungee Aky: could be right there lad , win r lose it’s supporting them that matters
@Thomyk: naw, nothing beats winning, you just forgot that it’s been so long
@Bungee Aky: won last Saturday pal , and I’m fairly sure we won a few games this season to, so maybe your talking through your anus now ?
Are you two done? Now up to your rooms and do your homework and leave your phones down.
@Thomyk: winning wars not battles
@Bungee Aky: grow a brain
Should be a belter and intimacy of the RDS for such a big game is again great as opposed to 3/4 full Aviva. Re KO info came out earlier for 2.30 KO on PRO14 Twitter
“Semi-Final KO Update: @leinsterrugby v @Munsterrugby to kick off at 14:30 on Saturday May 18 – live on @eirSport & @PremierSportsTV
#GuinnessPRO14”
@mrbryanrussell: if lowe plays it could be a rout
@Eoin Murphy: don’t think so, one thing is for certain let’s hope they don’t get sucked in like last time and focus on getting the job done. Should be a great match hopefully JVdF is back in the squad too as well as Joey
Will be tough for Leinster. Either they’ll all be hungover after winning the European cup, or in a sad shitty mood with no desire to play.
@sup: They’re highly motivated to do the double and if they lose to Saracens their determination will be even greater to win a trophy this season.