Doku dances his way to the top
The Belgian winger won his battle with his old friend Kyle Walker to mastermind a victory that wasn’t as comfortable as the scoreline suggested.
The saying goes that the table never lies, but there are times when the scoreboard certainly does. To see Manchester City 5 Burnley 1 would be to assume that this was the kind of comfortable, thumping win that happens every time the hapless visitors come to this corner of Manchester. However, at half time after Jaidon Anthony had responded to Maxime Esteve’s first own goal, there were real concerns that a worrying habit of not putting teams away had returned. In the end, the luckless Esteve would repeat his feat, and have a large hand in another, as Matheus Nunes and Erling Haaland helped to restore the good old days.
Jeremy Doku’s name wasn’t amongst the scorers, but his will be on the lips of all who witnessed his sparkling display. Having forged a reputation in England as a player who flattered to deceive - “all fur coat and no knickers” as one wag labelled him after City left Anfield defeated a year ago - the left winger has found the knack of becoming the difference maker. In the post De Bruyne era, with Phil Foden still not back to his peak of two years ago, Doku has taken on the mantle of creative fulcrum. A side that once passed teams to death is now passing to the number eleven to wear teams down mentally and physically with his indefatigable desire to test both shoulders of the retreating defence again and again and again.
Kicking off in mid-table isn’t as rare as it sounds for City at this stage of the season - they have been notoriously slow starters, often able to overhaul the frontrunners once they hit their stride in the spring. Two defeats out of five is far from ideal, but there was a calm assurance amongst the massed ranks that the expected win over their near neighbours would propel them back towards the top four.
Scott Parker’s men probably travelled down the M60 with less hope than they did when visiting Old Trafford, even if that performance should have earned them a point. Their last ten trips to the blue side of the city had ended in defeat, half of them with a scoreline of at least 5-0. The away fans deserved great credit for even making the journey.
The only man in the Burnley ranks looking forward to this fixture was City’s most famous and feted full back, Kyle Walker. He was given the kind of welcome that his service warranted, but he knew the charity would end there up against the pace and trickery of Doku. That point was hammered home when the crowd bayed for what would have been a harsh handball against their former captain after just six minutes. Welcome home.
It only took another six minutes for Walker’s day to get worse. The 35-year-old called Josh Laurent over for help with Doku, but City’s brightest attacker earned his bit of fortune to bundle his way between the two of them. Martin Dubravka saved his shot, with Foden and Esteve fighting for the rebound. The former Montpelier man won the race, but could only do what Foden was attempting, slicing the ball beyond his helpless keeper. At that point it felt like a long day for the men in black.
Many sides have come to this stadium and been suffocated, and Burnley were the latest. It took them 24 minutes to gain possession in the City half, and their only reward was a counter-attack that saw Doku draw another great save from Dubravka. And yet, for all of the sky blue dominance, everyone in the ground knew that while the lead was a single goal, the door remained ajar for Burnley. City’s Achilles Heel this term has been running out of gas and allowing their opponents back into the game, costing them five points against Brighton and Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Walker’s frustrations continued. First he was booked for a 50/50 in which Foden appeared to stand on his ankle, and then referee Rob Jones halted a promising attack with the right back leading a three-on-three break, because he had returned to the pitch after treatment on his ankle without permission. City looked comfortable, relaxed, holding the visitors off at arms length…which of course was when the equaliser arrived.
Jaidon Anthony found himself in space on the edge of the area and fed the ball out to Quilindschy Hartman. Anthony reached the centre, but his shot was immediately blocked by Ruben Dias. This time the luck favoured the visitors, as the ball bobbled beyond the stranded Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner. A game that City had in the palm of their hands was suddenly level.
It wouldn’t be fair to call the reaction a stunned silence, because the home faithful have seen this movie before. The only reaction was jubilation in the away end as Guardiola sunk his hands deeper into his pockets. Burnley were now blocking and tackling their men with more gusto, and even better than that, as City began to over commit, avenues opened up for Anthony and Lyle Foster to escape on the break.
The second half started with more of the same, Anthony and Foster again springing free to race towards Donnarumma. Nunes knew very little about his block to Foster’s shot, but this time the ball spun the other side of the far post. At the other end, the Jeremy/Kyle show became an intriguing contest within a contest, with each man winning their fair share. It would be easy to imagine training sessions in years gone by playing out in a similar fashion.
It was when the Belgian found himself up against Laurent or winger Loum Tchaouna that things began to happen, as City created a flurry of set pieces that they couldn’t convert. The dam burst on the hour, and again the catalyst was the left-hand side. Doku’s cross was recycled by Foden back to Josko Gvardiol, who stood a ball up to the back post for Erling Haaland to feast upon. The attentions of two defenders prevented him from directing a header on goal, but Nunes was on hand to tidy up the scraps and lash a volley from close range that Dubravka could only palm into the roof of the net.
Oscar Bobb replaced the ineffective Savinho and within minutes City found some joy down the right. Nunes turned provider, firing a first time cross into the path of the new man. Again Esteve made contact before his opposite number, and again saw the ball trickle beyond the grasp of his goalkeeper. The Frenchman is not the first Premier League player with a brace of own goals, but there can’t have been many who also played as well as he did. One suspects that he will be sitting in silence at the back of the bus on the way back North. Finally there was a buffer, one that provoked the Etihad crowd to find their voices. Doku looked to have struck a decisive blow in his duel as Walker nibbled at his ankles in the box, but Jones waved away what were strong appeals.
Doku might have been frustrated not to add to his two assists so far this season, but his moment would come just before the end. One more dance down the wing deceived the brow-beaten Walker, and his clever ball went behind the Burnley back line into the path of Haaland, who did what he does. The decision to wait for the defence to drop rather than firing in blind was an example of the improvements in his game this season, and his manager was in no doubt how crucial he was to the end result:
“His decision making in the final third has improved like…wow! He’s an incredible threat against teams in a low block. In those times he’s really important”
A quiet afternoon for Haaland burst into life in injury time, as Esteve and Hjalmar Ekdal jumped for the same ball and proceeded to lay it on a plate for the Norwegian to complete a performance comprising two goals, an assist and literally nothing else.
That point will be long forgotten as the evening and the season unfolds. All that will matter is that Guardiola’s side are now three points closer to Liverpool at the top, with the belief that they can maybe claw back a few more before the sides do battle here in November. For Parker, there were again patches of play that would see them hold their own against opponents with less quality, but that will come as little consolation for a while yet.
A trip to Villa Park next week, followed by clashes with Leeds United and Wolves is where the pressure will be on to gain points. Parker is well aware that they will need to maintain the bravery on the ball they displayed at times against the big boys without reward:
“There are no easy games in the Premier League, but if we can recreate that character, that endeavour, that quality, then it will give us an incredible foothold and an incredible chance to try and get results.”
City are getting results whilst not at their best - a familiar refrain across the league. Perhaps this is the consequence of all of that spending by the English - cohesion sacrificed at the altar of change. This was their fourth win from five since that defeat at Brighton, and there’s a chance to build momentum across October with a run of fixtures they should not find demanding. More teams than usual can give them a game, but taking points away remains another matter.