Manchester City defeated Burnley 6-0 in the FA Cup, with Erling Haaland scoring another hat trick to secure a place in the competition’s semifinals for the fifth consecutive year. In the meantime, it’s march and you know what that means – The Best Sports Betting Casinos of March 2023!
With their 7-0 annihilation of RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday, Pep Guardiola’s Man City club, of whom Haaland has been a part of eight, made it 13 goals in two games.
As Vincent Kompany’s return to the Etihad Stadium as Burnley’s manager came to a humiliating end, Julian Alvarez (2) and Cole Palmer also scored.
Haland is born for scoring hattricks
In his first year at Manchester City, Haaland is acting in a way that has gone beyond the ludicrous.
His hat trick against Burnley was his sixth of the year. He completed all three goals before being replaced in the 64th minute. He has scored nine goals in his previous three games, including five against RB Leipzig on Tuesday, and has 42 goals in his debut year in England.
His third goal against Burnley clearly illustrated his capacity to score goals. Phil Foden was given the ball by Riyad Mahrez, and his effort drifted across the goal and off the outside post. There were several Burnley defenders and City attackers in the penalty area, but Haaland, who had moved to the back post, received the ball.
Haaland accomplishes this far too frequently for it to be a coincidence, thus the ability to predict his next goal must be some sixth sense.
He was undoubtedly upset to only score twice in February given how his season has gone, but he’s making up for it in March. Even though he still has 18 games left until the season ends, the stats he is amassing are already unbelievable.
Before the international break, eight days of Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup match against Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig, and Burnley may determine the outcome of the season, according to Guardiola. Afterward, Guardiola added, “We have three games, each in a separate tournament, to determine our season. They will specify what we can or want to do for the remainder of the season.
The manager of Man City couldn’t have hoped for much more, actually. With three straight victories, 14 goals scored, and no goals allowed, City is in a fantastic position to contend for all three titles when club play resumes after the break.
Although Guardiola’s squad hasn’t always looked at its best this season, they are still second in the league and have advanced to the FA Cup semifinals and quarterfinals of the Champions League, giving them a chance to emulate Manchester United’s illustrious triple from 1999.
How close they reach will probably depend on the April schedule of games. Before the month of May officially begins, City has two Premier League matches against Liverpool and league-leading Arsenal, a two-leg Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich, and an FA Cup semifinal.
Burnley learns a hard lesson from the finest team in the Premier League.
Burnley now leads the Championship by 13 points and is just three victories away from joining the Premier League, but they just learned the hard way what it’s like to play against the finest clubs in the top division.
Over the first 30 minutes, Burnley was the superior team, and despite having only 20% of the possession, they managed to create both of the shots that were on target. Stefan Ortega stopped one of Nathan Tella’s shots, while Ruben Dias’ outstanding challenge prevented him from going clear through.
But just as the 6,000 visiting supporters started to think they might be able to pull off a surprise at the Etihad, Haaland was given his first two opportunities, and suddenly the score was 2-0 to Man City, and the game was all but gone.
Burnley’s goal in the Premier League for the upcoming season won’t be to contend with teams like Man City and Iceland, but rather to finish any higher than 18th and remain in the competition.
Burnley’s 18-game undefeated streak came to an end, and they were reminded how much of a step up the Premier League has become after their rout of the Championship in Kompany’s first season in command.
