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TURF MOOR, BURNLEY — Erling Haaland’s early goal was the difference at halftime as Manchester City sought a victory to take them to the top of the Premier League against Burnley.
Pep Guardiola’s side have not been top of the pile since the opening weekend of the season but can edge ahead of Arsenal on goals scored with a single-goal victory at Turf Moor.
That was the margin as early as the fifth minute, when Haaland dinked a cool finish past Martin Dubravka for his 24th league goal of the campaign. Burnley goalkeeper Dubraka had already turned a Rayan Cherki shot against the crossbar.
Defeat would confirm Burnley’s relegation, but the hosts had chances of their own as City’s high defensive line malfunctioned on a handful of occasions. Jaidon Anthony, Quilindschy Hartman and Zian Flemming were all unable to capitalise.
The Sporting News is following the Burnley vs. Manchester City match live, providing score updates and commentary
Burnley vs. Man City score
Venue: Turf Moor, Burnley
Referee: Andy Madley
Keep track of every game and every goal via SN’s live Premier League scoreboard
Starting lineups:
Burnley (5-4-1, right to left): 1. Martin Dubravka (GK) – 2. Kyle Walker, 18. Hjalmar Ekdal, 12. Bashir Humphreys, 5. Maxime Esteve, 3. Quilindschy Hartman – 17. Loum Tchaouna, 20. James Ward-Prowse, 29. Josh Laurent, 11. Jaidon Anthony – 19. Zian Flemming
Man City (4-2-3-1, right to left): 25. Gianluigi Donnarumma (GK) — 27. Matheus Nunes, 45. Abdukodir Khusanov, 15. Marc Guehi, 21. Rayan Ait-Nouri — 20. Bernardo Silva, 33. Nico O’Reilly — 42. Antoine Semenyo, 10. Rayan Cherki, 11. Jeremy Doku — 9. Erling Haaland
Burnley vs. Man City live updates, highlights, and commentary
Halftime
Burnley might have feared the worst after Erling Haaland’s nicely taken opener and a flurry of early City chances. But Burnley have had opportunities of their own and City look like a team out the other side of an intense run of games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, playing far too casually as a result. Pep Guardiola might have a few choice words for his players, who are nevertheless heading to the top of the league as things stand.
45+1 mins: Two minutes of added time are signalled. A Burnley free-kick scoots all the way through to the back post and City have to scramble behind.
42 mins: Cherki threads a lovely back-spinning bal down the line for Doku. Esteve, who scored two own-goals in this fixture at the Etihad Stadium, thwacks over with Haaland close behind him.
41 mins: Haaland gets to a loose ball and City can attack down the left through Doku. The Belgium international has a couple of stabs at a killer pass and can’t meet the mark.
36 mins: The ball breaks to Ait-Nouri, who smashes way over. About as good as that previous corner.
35 mins: Cherki launches into a quite wonderful dribble, scuttling into the Burnley box. The cutback for Haaland is off target, though.
32 mins: Ait-Nouri’s corner is rubbish and gets booted away.
31 mins: Corner to City, before which Dubravka gets some treatment. The veteran keeper collided with his post when he saved from O’Reilly earlier, so it might be related to that.
29 mins: City cough up possession, Tchaouna nips in ahead of Guehi and Burnley can break. Tchaouna hits a lovely pass with the the outside of his foot for Flemming. The striker gets his shot off but fires over under pressure from the unfeasibly rapid Khusanov.
28 mins: Cherki puts the accelerator down to instigate a one-touch passage of play. O’Reilly gets a shot off but Dubravka is equal to it.
25 mins: Ait-Nouri swings. a corner all the way to the back post, where O’Reilly’s header is blocked behind by Dubravka. The second one is worked short and doesn’t amount to much. Now Cherki has a go from outside the area but doesn’t get hold of it and Dubravka makes a routine save. The France international admonishes himself.
20 mins: Doku in off the wing, looks for Haaland. The ball comes back to Silva, who spanks one. The shot is travelling but inadvertently blocked by Haaland in an offside position.
19 mins: Lots of men back for Burnley but not a lot of bite about their defending as Silva again finds Cherki to drive into opposition shins.
16 mins: Another chance in behind the City defence for Burnley. Flemming dummies but then drags wastefully wide. Guardiola’s men really need to tighten up.
15 mins: Doku and Haaland fashion a change for Cherki, who elects to dribble rather than shoot and the change passes him by.
9 mins: Defending options here, it seems, as Haaland gets in to win a corner. From the set-piece, Cherki first an attempt into claret and blue legs.
8 mins: City again looking exposed down their right flank as Hartman chops into space and has a shot blocked with Donnarumma scampering.
5 mins: GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!! Erling Haaland!!!!
Beautifully done by Haaland, who draws Dubravka and dinks a finish beyond the goalkeeper into the far corner after being released by Doku. What Burnley were playing at to cause that is anyone’s guess.
That didn’t take long ⏱️
Erling Haaland puts Man City in front at Turf Moor! pic.twitter.com/6Bgp4TWETj
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 22, 2026
4 mins: Fabulous save from Dubravka! City get into the Burnley area far too easily again. Semenyo cuts back from the byline, Cherki tries to lift his shot and Dubravka pushes it onto the bar.
3 mins: Change for Burnley as Anthony finds room around the outside of Nunes, who has started very narrow at right-back. The Burnley winger cuts in to shoot on his right foot, Donnarumma pushes clear and the offside flag goes up before a Clarets player can scamper after the rebound.
2 mins: Cherki chips a pass, seemingly just for a laugh. Silva picks it up and is allowed to saunter unchallenged into the Burnley box before his shot is blocked.
Kickoff: 1st Half
Off we go. City settle into possession. They’re kicking towards the Jimmy McIlroy Stand, if you’ll allow me to test your British football ground geography.
4 mins before kickoff: Right then, here come the teams. Out into a cool but quite beautiful spring evening in East Lancashire. The City fans away to my right are in fine voice. The home supporters, by understandable contrast, seem to be here out of a grim sense of duty and obligation. Defeat tonight would confirm their relegation that has been on the cards for an awfully long time.
20 mins before kickoff: By way of underling the task facing Burnley tonight, they are winless in their most recent seven Premier League games and have won only one of the past 24. Their Premier League head-to-head with City reads played 19, won one, drawn three and lost 15.
Getty Images
40 mins before kickoff: Pep Guardiola and the City players refused to be drawn going into this game when the prospect of padding their goal difference was brought up. And fair enough, that’s putting the cart before the horse when the name of the game is winning each match. But City and Arsenal could both do that and the Gunners have Burnley coming up in their final home game. The Clarets shipped four goals at Nottingham Forest on Sunday to slip to the brink of relegation and the likes of Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo – 38 Premier League goals between them this season, four more than Burnley altogether – might be licking their lips.
1 hour before kickoff: Burnley boss Scott Parker has made three changes from the side that lost 4-1 to Nottingham Forest from 1-0 up. Bashir Humphreys, Loum Tchaouna and Josh Laurent come in for Florentino, Marcus Edwards and Lesley Ugochukwu, who all drop to the bench. It looks like a 5-4-1, meaning this might end up being a patience game for City.
#BurnleyFC team news 📋 pic.twitter.com/riluBTJZ5T
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) April 22, 2026
1 hr 15 mins before kickoff: The teams are in and apparently I’ve cursed poor old Nico Gonzalez. He’s still on the bench, with Rayan Ait-Nouri coming at left-back and Nico O’Reilly shifting into the Rodri-less midfield. It’s easy to see the logic in selecting another attack-minded player in a match where City are likely to have the vast majority of possession. However, the pacey back three out of possession of Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi will have to be on their mettle when transitions arise.
Your City side to take on Burnley! 👊
XI | Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, Ait-Nouri, Bernardo (C), O’Reilly, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland
SUBS | Trafford, Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Kovacic, Nico, Savinho, Foden
🤝 @etihad pic.twitter.com/6WR2GtAgy6
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 22, 2026
1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: Elsewhere in the Premier League this evening, Chelsea have sacked Liam Rosenior. Find out all the latest on that story HERE.
1 hr 40 mins before kickoff: Confirmed team news will be with us in about 20 minutes and the expected change for Manchester City will be at the base of the midfield. Nico Gonzalez has proved to be a very able deputy to Rodri this term, more so than last season when he seemingly struggled to gain Pep Guardiola’s trust following a hasty mid-season switch from Porto. Fifteen of Nico’s 22 Premier League appearances this season have come as a starter, although the most recent of those was in the 1-1 draw against Brighton in early January. It remains to be seen how this might have affected the former Barcelona player’s match rhythm.
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Burnley vs. Manchester City in the Premier League. Any victory for City will move Pep Guardiola’s men to the top of the Premier League, while defeat will confirm Burnley’s relegation to the Championship.
Burnley vs. Man City kick off time
The Burnley vs. Man City match kicks off in Burnley, UK at 8 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Wed, Apr 22 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| Canada | Wed, Apr 22 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| UK | Wed, Apr 22 | 8:00 p.m. BST |
| Australia | Thu, Apr 23 | 6:00 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Thu, Apr 23 | 1:30 a.m. IST |
Burnley vs. Man City match facts
- The two clubs have met on 95 previous occasions with City coming out on top 49 times to Burnley’s 26.
- Burnley have not won any of the last 19 games, losing 11 straight — their longest against any opposition in their league history.
- City have scored 5+ goals on five different ocasions against Burnley — no side has done so more times against another in Premier League history.
Burnley vs. Man City team news
Burnley
- After the second-half collapse at Nottingham Forest, Scott Parker makes three changes.
- Bashir Humphreys, Loum Tchaouna and Josh Laurent come in for Florentino, Marcus Edwards and Lesley Ugochukwu, who all drop to the bench.
Man City
- The only downside of Sunday’s huge win over Arsenal was the sight of Rodri hobbling off with a groin issue.
- Nico Gonzalez was expected to take his place in the lineup and start a league game for the first time since January, but Rayan Ait-Nouri got the nod, meaning a shift into midfield from left-back for Nico O’Reilly.
- Ruben Dias (hamstring) remains sidelined, meaning Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi continue at centre-back.
Burnley vs. Man City live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | USA Network | Peacock |
| Canada | Fubo Sports Network 2 Canada | Fubo, DAZN |
| UK | Sky Sports Main Event | Sky GO, Sky Sports website |
| Australia | — | Stan Sport |
| India | — | JioHotstar |
