Post Match Thoughts: City 2 - 2 Burnley

After City controlled the first 15 minutes or so of the first half, Burnley started to find their way into the game with short spells with possession. A couple of chances off counters for Burnley ended in no goals, but was a warning sign for the confident Blues. Silva continued to thrive in the midfield as the false 9 seems to be a comfortable formation for him from the 2010 World Cup run by Spain. Silva got his goal to continue the tear he’s on in the 24th minute after Nasri found the speedy Navas cutting end line. The Spaniard found his fellow countrymen right out side the box, and Silva took one touch and sent the ball into the back of the net. Another fine example of team play that has littered our time with no true striker. Like the first goal, Burnley had a couple of chances via set pieces to get a goal (though it wasn’t too threatening as City had plenty of chances), but one bit of class from Fernandinho made it 2-0 to City. A fantastic curling strike from outside the box, took a bounce off the top of the cross bar and into the net.

The second half had a negative start as Burnley quickly put the pressure on City right from the whistle. Burnley got a goal from a close range shot from George Boyd who was in a clear offside position. With the scoreline now much more manageable for Burnley the game became more end to end as both teams looked to grab another goal. Great chances for both sides fell by the wayside with 20 minutes remaining to play. In the final ten minutes or so the belief from Burnley continued to grow as the underdogs grabbed a well deserved equalizer from a rocket of a shot from Barnes who was a pest all day. In the end City were unable to grab a goal to secure three points and the match ended 2-2.

For as talented as Mangala can be, which he has shown spurts of, his defending all around today left a lot to be desired especially in the physical game. The defense, as a whole, this season has shown a lot of holes and today was another example of that. Burnley excelled on set pieces and almost scored multiple times on those chances. The first goal will be a huge talking point, as it should be, but City shouldn’t be giving away a lead against teams like Burnley. At the end of the day a point is a point, though it would have been nice to get all three with Chelsea losing points earlier in the day. On to the next match!