Kevin De Bruyne could be out for a few weeks after he re-injured his hamstring during Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Burnley on Friday, the first game of the new Premier League season.
Erling Haaland scored twice, and then Rodri made it 3-0. This was a great start for City as they try to become the first team to win four straight English Premier League titles.
But it was a bad sign for Pep Guardiola’s team to see De Bruyne limp off in the middle of the first half.
Two months ago, when City beat Inter Milan in the final of the Champions League, the Belgian tore his hamstring.
“Unfortunately, he got hurt again,” Guardiola said. “Same place and situation as in the Champions League, and he will be out for a while.
“It will be a few weeks, but it will depend on how big it is. He needs to clear his mind and chill out because he came back from that place (previous illnesses) and he will come back now.
The 2022–2023 season for Burnley ended more than a month before City won the European Cup in Istanbul.
Guardiola has complained that his team had less time to prepare for the season than their rivals, but they got off to a fast start.
“We are still not in our best (physical) shape,” added Guardiola. “But we have to try not to lose too many points during that time.” “It’s all about how you think, and we were lucky to break the game open early.
“This is going to be bad for a lot of teams, which is why I’m so happy.”
Haaland scored 52 goals in his first year at City, which helped the team win three titles.
The 23-year-old scored his first goal of the new season just over three minutes in when he swept home Rodri’s header across goal after De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden worked well together on a corner.
Vincent Kompany is the manager of Burnley, and there is a statue of him in front of City’s Etihad Stadium to honor his successful playing career with the English winners.
Kompany got the Clarets back into the Premier League on the first try and changed the way they played during their first season under his leadership.
Even though they lost, the home team wasn’t bad, but they paid for not having a goal scorer like Haaland.
Both Luca Koleosho and Zeki Amdouni had good chances to tie the game, and Amdouni’s call for a penalty was denied.
Kompany said, “There were many times in the game when we did ourselves proud.”
But they got a sucker punch when Julian Alvarez passed Kyle Walker’s cross to Haaland, who made a powerful shot that went in off the bottom of the crossbar nine minutes before halftime.
The break took the wind out of Burnley’s sails, so City took control of the game without ever having to go into top gear.
Rodri scored the only goal in Istanbul two months ago, making him an unusual hero. He started the new season the same way he ended the last one: by smashing the ball in from close range after a scramble in front of the goal.
Burnley’s bad night was over when Anass Zaroury was given a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Walker in extra time.