Live: Burnley vs Manchester City, Premier League Season Opener – Great

The supernaturally relaxed Erling Haaland speaks to Sky. “It’s good to start again … it’s been two months without … we did quite well for the first game of the season … it’s the first game of the marathon … I have to keep on working, keep on relaxing, and keep on not trying to think too much, not to focus on negative things … I don’t think, I just go there … everyone sees I am developing my game … it’s a pleasure working with Pep … I don’t know if there is anyone better to work with as a young player, because I am still young, don’t forget [cheeky sparkling smile] … I have to keep on developing and enjoy the chaos around me … I got a bit mad because Bernardo didn’t play me and Pep was mad at that … we have to try to chase things again.” He then swans off and gives Gary Neville a playful tap on the shoulder that has just enough force behind it to introduce an element of ambiguity. Neville laughs slightly nervously. All good fun.

Newly promoted Burnley will be happy enough with their performance tonight. They asked a few questions of Manchester City in the first half, but while their early verve augured well for the rest of the season, it wasn’t enough against the best team in the world, for whom Erling Haaland is a force of nature. Their quest to become the first team to win four English titles in a row starts nearly perfectly; the only worries are over the fitness of Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker. Over to the rest of the Premier League, starting tomorrow. Good luck, everyone else!

FULL TIME: Burnley 0-3 Manchester City

90 min +8: Benson goes down so the clock ticks on. He eventually gets back up.

90 min +6: Pity poor Craig Pawson, who had refereed the match invisibly, and clearly liked the idea of making it all the way through without the need to punish anyone. It was a challenge out of whack with the rest of the game … although it looked clumsy and desperate rather than aggressive. The match has been played in a good spirit.

90 min +5: Walker is replaced by McAtee. The Burnley fans give the referee the bird, but there’s no question about that red card.

RED CARD: Zaroury (Burnley)

90 min +3: Walker tears off down the right and is cynically clipped by Zaroury. The first booking of the night. The referee didn’t want to show the yellow – he gave it some thought – but knew he had no choice.

90 min +1: Brownhill comes on for Berge, while Foster replaces Redmond, who makes his Burnley debut.

90 min: Foster hustles down the left and wins a corner. Laporte bashes a header clear. There will be six added minutes.

89 min: City pass it around as the clock runs down. Plenty of added time doubtless coming up, though.

87 min: … and presumably the buffoon who has just entered the field of play to chase after Alvarez will get what’s coming to him, too. The first stage of his punishment: being wrestled to the ground. The second: being marched away with disapproving boos ringing in his ears.

85 min: Burnley Football Club have released a statement to say that the oaf who threw a lighter at Rico Lewis’s head during the first half has been identified, ejected and banned.

84 min: Berge teases his way down the left and wins another Burnley corner. Nothing comes from it, but this is a decent spell for the hosts.

82 min: Corner for Burnley out on the right. Bruun Larsen, who has caused City a few problems, flashes a header over the bar. This hasn’t been Burnley’s night, nobody really expected it to be … but they’ll be happy with quite a few performances tonight, ones that augur well for the rest of the season. They won’t be playing the best team in the world every week.

80 min: … and it means Haaland won’t get his hat-trick tonight, because he’s replaced, along with Lewis and Ake. On come Palmer, Laporte and, making his City debut, Gvardiol.

79 min: Haaland big-leggies his way down the middle. He really should be shooting from the edge of the D but feeds Alvarez to his left. Alvarez can’t get a shot away. Haaland is too generous for his own good sometimes. He could have had four tonight, easily, but keeps trying to set his mate up. What a guy, though.

77 min: It’s not all good news for City, though, because just before the third goal, Pep Guardiola was booked for telling it as he sees it. The first victim of the new War on Dissent is a high-profile one.

GOAL! Burnley 0-3 Manchester City (Rodri 75)

73 min: Beyer goes down with cramp and is replaced by the exciting Benson.

71 min: City stroke the ball around patiently, as is so often their wont. Suddenly a bit of space for Foden down the left. He sweeps infield for Haaland, but can’t find his man free in the box.

69 min: A City corner. The offside flag goes up during a meleé. The ball’s played all the way back to Ederson, so the referee waves play on. The home fans aren’t happy City have been allowed to retain possession, but at least they’re getting more bang for their buck with the ball still in play, so it’s swings and roundabouts.

67 min: Rodri strides down the middle. The pitch opens up for him. Burnley open up for him. But he can’t decide whether to feed Haaland, just to his right, or shoot himself. Haaland eventually gets in his way, Rodri shoots, and the effort is blocked. Another very promising opportunity for goal number three goes begging.

65 min: More encouragement provided by the new man Bruun Larsen, whose buzzing presence panics City a little as the champions play their way out from the back. He strips Ake and would launch a counter had he not also needlessly shoved the City defender. A free kick gets Ake off the hook. Vincent Kompany not happy.

63 min: Cullen threads a clever pass down the right to send Bruun Larsen into space. The substitute winger wins a corner off Lewis. Nothing comes from the set piece, but that’s given the home crowd something to cheer about for the first time in a little while.

61 min: Burnley make a double change. Amdouni and Koleosho make way for Zaroury and Bruun Larsen.

60 min: Foden rolls a pass down the middle for Haaland, who brushes off O’Shea with an ease bordering on disdain. He powers towards the box and generously lays off to Alvarez on his right. Alvarez slashes wildly wide right of goal.

59 min: City hog the ball imperiously. Burnley can’t get a sniff.

57 min: Alvarez should send Foden scampering clear but his pass down the middle is overhit and flies through to Trafford. City look in the mood for a third.

55 min: Rodri has a bang from the best part of 30 yards. Trafford tips the swerving, rising effort over the bar. Alvarez takes the resulting corner. Rodri meets it and guides a header towards the bottom left. Trafford is behind it all the way.

54 min: Burnley hold firm and clear the second corner. Appreciative applause as the hosts force City all the way back to Ederson.

53 min: … Foden attempts an overhead kick from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Blocked. Another corner coming up.

52 min: Alvarez slips a pass down the inside-left channel. Haaland shoots from a tight angle. The fierce shot is deflected over for a corner. From which …

51 min: A nice end-to-end feel to this game. Foster probes down the Burnley left at speed but can’t find Amdouni in the middle; Silva nearly releases Haaland with a half-volleyed pass down the centre of the park.

50 min: You have to wonder whether Pep’s philosophical broadside was deliberately performative. A public show to categorically inform everyone that City won’t be easing up post-treble.

48 min: Incidentally, Guardiola, who had departed the scene at the end of the first half screaming at Haaland and yanking him by the arm mid-rollocking, emerged from the tunnel with his arm around Bernardo Silva. Carrot as well as stick.

46 min: Koleosho drives down the right and puts Ake on the back foot. His pass down the channel is intended for Foster but is easily picked off by Ederson.

Manchester City get the second half underway. No changes. “Can I be the first person to congratulate City on a historic fourth title in a row?” sighs Matt Dony.

Half-time reading.

HALF TIME: Burnley 0-2 Manchester City

45 min +4: Ederson and Rodri faff about and nearly let Foster in. Foster goes over by the left-hand side of the D, but Burnley aren’t getting the free kick. Vincent Kompany isn’t happy.

45 min +3: “It’s weird that the Premier League is back while the World Cup is still on. It’s like if during a three-hour mega blockbuster film the cinema projected Coronation Street down in one corner of the screen.” Kári Tulinius there with a joke tailored specifically for tonight’s big event in Granadaland.

45 min +1: The first of five additional minutes. Foden chases another long ball. He’s clear. But he lets the ball clank between his legs and can’t get a shot away. Trafford claims. Foden thinks Al Dakhil has bundled him over, but the flag goes up for offside so it’s moot.

45 min: Ederson’s long pass nearly sets Foden free. O’Shea does just about enough to deal with the situation, though had his clearing header been any weaker, Foden was through.

43 min: Haaland’s double has taken a fair bit of wind out of the Turf Moor sail. In lieu of a Burnley goal in the next few minutes, a couple of half-time pints should get things moving again.

41 min: Haaland has so far touched the ball on nine occasions, for the record. Kevin De Bruyne has 12 to his name and he went off 15 minutes ago.

39 min: It’s not. Burnley clear, and Haaland must wait for his third goal of the half/match/season.

38 min: Actually, that’s not quite true. The corner does lead to something: a City counter. Alvarez busies himself down the right and is eventually skittled by Vitinho. Free kick and a chance already for Haaland to register his first hat-trick of the season, should Alvarez’s delivery be good enough.

37 min: Again Burnley respond well, Koleosho crossing low from the right, Foster shooting first time from the edge of the box. Akanji blocks, and nothing comes from the corner.

GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Manchester City (Haaland 36)