Man City have beaten Burnley away from home in the opening game of the Premier League 2023-24 campaign. Here we name some notable performances.
Rodri 8/10. Showed why he is the best in the world in his position. Even if you take away his goal and assist, it's still 8/10 at least because Rodri transcends the layman's G/A definitions.
Haaland 7/10. Scored two, eh? In a typical Erling Haaland fashion he was barely involved (23 touches) but you have to judge a striker on goals though, right?
Kovacic 7/10. Some might say it was nothing really special apart from keeping possession but that is the main requirement in a Pep Guardiola team. Some good forward passes.
Foden 7/10. Was pretty close to scoring but got rusty at the last moment. Still he found himself in dangerous situations regularly and he only has to work on his finishing.
Gvardiol 6/10. He was on for about 10 minutes and barely touched the ball but Man City fans will tell you it was the best thing since sliced bread. It definitely wasn't because we're yet to see Gvardiol tested by stronger PL teams. The only notable thing about his debut was that he played on the left instead of centre.
Alvarez 5/10. Not the best game for the Argentinian as it felt like Pep was just trying to fit Alvarez into somewhere. Wasted a few solid chances. Got slightly better when finally moved up front.
Others: about 6/10 for everyone else as it was a typical confident win for Man City, the kind of game in which you have to either really stand out or completely go blank to differ from the median.
