A controversial Sergio Aguero equaliser proved to be the turning point as Burnley were knocked out of the FA Cup despite a superb first-half performance in which they took the lead through Ashley Barnes’ superb strike.
The Clarets were able to withstand a wave of early pressure from Pep Guardiola’s side which contained many first-team regulars, perhaps a sign of respect to the Clarets who have taken points away at Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United in the Premier League this season.
For all the possession City enjoyed in the first-half, they failed to register a single shot on target for Nick Pope to deal with in the Burnley goal, a feat that few sides have been able to achieve this season.
One of their best chances came when Sergio Aguero was brought down on the edge of the Burnley penalty area, but Ilkay Gundogan failed to beat the wall with the resulting free-kick and Oleksandr Zinchenko lashed over the bar from the rebound.
Burnley were a threat on the break, almost taking the lead when Ben Mee nodded a dangerous corner from Johan Berg Gudmunsson back across goal, but Nicolas Otamendi was able to clear before it reached Ashley Barnes.
And they continued to trouble the City defence, taking the lead through a thunderous strike from Ashley Barnes who pounced on a mistake form John Stones and powered past former Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo at his near post, becoming the third side to take the lead at the Etihad this season.
Sean Dyche’s side were able to restrict the home side to a few half-chances in the rest of the first-half, notably when Zinchenko again tried his luck from distance, his effort dipping on to the roof of the net.
The game changed early in the second-half when Ilkay Gundogan took a free-kick quickly and caught the Burnley defence asleep, allowing Sergio Aguero to finish clinically past Pope from close-range, despite the protests from the Burnley players.
And City, now playing with confidence, scored another soon afterwards when Aguero received the ball from a superb back-heel from Gundogan and rounded Pope before slotting home, finishing an excellent passing move from the home side.
Sane did manage to get on the scoresheet later in the second half when poked the ball past Pope from a tight angle after being played in by David Silva, another example of the ruthless football City are capable of this season.
And Bernado Silva rounded off a good day for City, converting from Sane’s pass after the German beat Pope to a through ball from Kevin De Bruyne and had the vision to find Silva in the box.
Player Ratings:
Burnley: Pope (5) Lowton (6) Long (6) Mee (6) Taylor (6) Gudmunsson (7) Cork (7) Westwood (6) Barnes (7) Hendrick (5) Vokes (6)
Substitutes: Wells (6) Walters (6)
Manchester City: Bravo (6) Danilo (7) Stones (6) Otamendi (7) Zinchenko (6) Gundogan (8) Fernandinho (6) D Silva (7) Sterling (7) Aguero (8) Sane (8)
Substitutes: Walker (6) De Bruyne (7) B Silva (7)
Man of the Match: Ilkay Gundogan
The Clarets can take heart from their first-half performance against arguably the best team in the world this season, although an FA Cup run would have been a nice bonus to what is proving to be a brilliant season for the club.
City proved how good they are in the second-half and it is almost impossible to stop them scoring once they find their rhythm, although it would have been interesting how the game would have panned out if their equaliser had been ruled out.
ClaretDan 