Burnley 0-2 Manchester City: Gabriel Jesus & Raheem Sterling score

Manchester City restored their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League and extended their ominous-looking winning streak to 13 games with a comfortable victory at Burnley.

It started in the worst possible manner for the hosts as goalkeeper Nick Pope parried Bernardo Silva’s stinging shot straight at Gabriel Jesus, who nodded in from a couple of yards out after three minutes.

The visitors dominated possession and doubled their lead before half-time, Ilkay Gundogan fizzing a pass across the six-yard box for Raheem Sterling to tuck home.

Riyad Mahrez, who scored a hat-trick in November’s reverse fixture, had a goal disallowed for offside, while Burnley did not manage a shot on target and only had two efforts all night.

Sean Dyche’s team drop to 16th in the table but remain eight points above the relegation zone after 18th-placed Fulham were beaten by high-flyers Leicester City on Wednesday.

City slickers charge on

City’s old foe Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, once said: “Attack wins you games but defence wins you titles.” This result means league leaders City are the side to catch in the second half of the campaign after a club record equalling sixth straight clean sheet.

The away side did not romp away with the game but were always in control, extending their unbeaten run to 20 matches, during which they have conceded only four goals.

It was also City’s 13th straight win – the measure of that superb form highlighted by the fact Arsenal were the last Premier League team to achieve that feat 19 years ago.

Guardiola has been criticised in the past for not sorting out his City defence, but the excellent summer signing Ruben Dias has been a steadying influence at the back, partnered by the resurgent John Stones.

Even with key men missing, the visitors were rarely troubled and made it look easy, which does not bode well for the other title-challengers.

Brazil striker Jesus will need to carry the goalscoring threat in the continued absence of Sergio Aguero and he scored his fourth goal of the campaign – and his 75th for City – with a poacher’s finish after three minutes.

With Kevin de Bruyne out injured, Germany midfielder Gundogan has also stepped up and his excellent lay-off was converted by Sterling for his 10th goal of the season.

Having beaten Burnley 5-0 four times in the past three years, it could have been another repeat – but City were less clinical on this occasion.

England forward Sterling should have had a second when he ran clear at the start of the second half, but a low shot was saved by Pope and the Burnley keeper also kept out Mahrez’s curling effort.

Gundogan rifled a strike narrowly over the bar and City could have had a penalty when James Tarkowski kicked Jesus on the back of the foot, but Martin Atkinson’s on-field decision not to award a spot-kick was back up by the video assistant referee.

No complaints for the Clarets

Burnley are the lowest scorers in the English top flight with 13 goals. Missing injured strikers Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood, Wednesday’s match was always likely to be a struggle.

Dyche’s side had just 25% possession and have now lost their past eight games against City, shipping 30 goals and scoring just once.

And their wretched home record against the division’s established ‘big six’ – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – is now one victory from the past 27 meetings.

Matej Vydra volleyed wide from a promising position and Johann Gudmundsson smashed a long-range strike over in a rather relaxed evening for Ederson, though the City goalkeeper did receive a yellow card for haring off his line and chopping down Erik Pieters.

What the managers said

Burnley boss Sean Dyche to BBC Sport: “Manchester City were every good. They’re on a good run of form. They are really sharp in transition in defence and attack.

“They can open you up. We’d like to do better with the goals. Fair play to them. They get their noses in front.

“We defended well in general and stuck to the task.

“This batch of injuries, I don’t think are serious.

“They play with a three and a half [at the back]. The right-back or left-back goes into midfield when they have the ball.”

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola to BBC Sport: “We struggled a little bit to break – the first pass, first movement. The first 15 minutes of the second half was our best football. Unfortunately we could not score a third or fourth goal.

“In the last 15 minutes we passed the ball without the intent to attack, just to control.

“Strikers need goals for their confidence. Gabriel Jesus played really good.”

Winning on Wednesdays – the best stats

• Manchester City’s 13-match winning run is the longest by a Premier League side since Arsenal between March and August 2002 (also 13).
• Burnley have failed to have a shot on target in their past two league games – the first to do that since Everton in January 2018.
• City have won all three of their games against Burnley this season by an aggregate score of 10-0.
• Manchester City have kept a clean sheet in their past six league games, their joint-longest run without conceding in the competition (also September 2015 and October 2018).
• They have become the first side to win 12 consecutive Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
• Gundogan has scored (seven) or assisted (one) eight goals in his past 10 Premier League games for City, as many as in his previous 61 appearances.
• Sterling has been directly involved in 154 goals under Guardiola (99 goals and 55 assists) – eight more than any other City player in that time.
• Jesus has scored 68 goals in the 107 games he has started for Manchester City, netting in each of his past three starts.

What next?

Burnley have a potentially crucial match against fellow strugglers Brighton on Saturday (15:00 GMT kick-off).

City too have a huge game when they travel to champions Liverpool on Sunday (16:30). A victory for the visitors at Anfield would be a significant blow to the Reds in this season’s title race.