Manchester City will go into next week’s huge clash with Liverpool with a one-point lead at the English Premier League (EPL) summit after defeating Burnley 2-0 to reclaim top spot.
Liverpool defeated Watford by the same scoreline in Saturday’s early game to leapfrog the reigning champions, but the Reds’ stay in first place was a short one.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan netted inside the opening 25 minutes and Manchester City sauntered to a 10th consecutive victory over Burnley.
Gabriel Jesus missed chances to add to Manchester City’s lead.
But there was never any danger of a Burnley comeback as Manchester City ensured a narrow advantage ahead of Liverpool’s trip to the Etihad Stadium on April 10.
Where Jurgen Klopp’s men laboured a little in their win against relegation-threatened opponents, Manchester City were in control almost from the outset.
But Burnley had the first chance, when Josh Brownhill’s third-minute header beat Ederson only to drop wide.
Manchester City led just over two minutes later, as Raheem Sterling cushioned Rodri’s cross into the path of De Bruyne, who thumped high past Nick Pope.
The same two players combined again for Manchester City’s second, playing a one-two on the right to set Sterling away to tee up a Gundogan shot.
It earned a slight deflection off Kevin Long on its way past Pope.
Burnley enjoyed an improved spell following a succession of Pope saves at the start of the second half, but they failed to trouble Ederson in the same way.
They could have been in three behind when Manchester City substitute Jesus volleyed an awkward effort just over.
Jesus would go away wondering how he had not got on the scoresheet.
That was after Connor Roberts deflected another volley against the foot of the post, before the forward shot wide on the rebound.
Results and standings English Premier League:
Saturday:
Liverpool 2 Watford 0
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Norwich City 0
Burnley 0 Manchester City 2
Chelsea 1 Brentford 4
Leeds United 1 Southampton 1
Wolverhampton 2 Aston Villa 1
Manchester United 1 Leicester City 1
Sunday:
West Ham United vs Everton (1300 hrs GMT)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United (1530)
Monday:
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal (1900)
P W D L F A Pts
1 Manchester City 30 23 4 3 70 18 73
2 Liverpool 30 22 6 2 77 20 72
3 Chelsea 29 17 8 4 58 23 59
4 Arsenal 28 17 3 8 44 31 54
5 Tottenham Hotspur 29 16 3 10 47 36 51
6 Manchester United 30 14 9 7 49 41 51
7 Wolverhampton 31 15 4 12 33 27 49
8 West Ham United 30 14 6 10 49 39 48
9 Leicester City 28 10 7 11 43 47 37
10 Aston Villa 30 11 3 16 42 42 36
11 Southampton 30 8 12 10 37 46 36
12 Crystal Palace 29 7 13 9 39 38 34
13 Brighton 30 7 13 10 26 36 34
14 Brentford 31 9 6 16 37 48 33
15 Newcastle United 29 7 10 12 32 49 31
16 Leeds United 31 7 9 15 35 68 30
17 Everton 27 7 4 16 29 47 25
18 Watford 30 6 4 20 29 57 22
19 Burnley 28 3 12 13 22 40 21
20 Norwich City 30 4 6 20 18 63 18
