Manchester City ease to home win over Burnley thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne

Manchester City stay within a point of Liverpool at the top of the table thanks to a 2-0 victory over Burnley.

Bernardo Silva opened the scoring, tapping home from close range after Nick Pope dived to his left to stop Phil Foden's low drive but could only present the ball into the Portuguese forward's path.

There were some nervous moments for City before Kevin De Bruyne made it two, smashing home a lose ball with his left foot after Ashley Westwood and Riyad Mahrez collided in the box.

Burnley remain second-bottom of the table but will be encouraged by how they battled the reigning champions on equal terms for much of the game.

City got away with it in this game, but had Burnley finished a couple of good chances from Josh Brownhill and Ashley Barnes they may well have dropped points. Winning the title last season was one thing but with Liverpool looking recharged and Chelsea ready to bring their Champions League form to the Premier League they will need to perform better to retain their title.

The 86 points City got last season was the lowest from a winner since Leicester in 2015-16 and this was contributed to by the goalscoring efforts of Ilkay Gundogan, which are unlikely to be replicated in the City side this season, and the contribution from Raheem Sterling, which dwindled to ten last year after 45 goals in three seasons up to then, and looks likely to be in single figures last term.

With Sergio Aguero gone and Gabriel Jesus, successfully, moved to play on the right flank and Ferran Torres unlikely to be back before February they clearly lack a spearhead in attack. Given his recent form, could Harry Kane's near transfer be the ultimate lose-lose scenario?

Not an easy game to give an award, as there were no great performances from City and though Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope played well it was not as if his goal was peppered throughout.

Bernardo was the player at the hub of most good work City came up with in the final third though, creating overloads in areas on either side of the pitch as well as racing up into the penalty area to give his side much-needed attacking options in the box.

As outlined above, City do not have a goal poacher anymore so the nous shown by the Portuguese star to get to the rebound from Foden's shot for the crucial first goal displayed another string to his bow which may need further plucking on occasions this year.

Manchester City: Steffen 7; Joao Cancelo 6, Stones 6, Laporte 6, Ake 6; Rodri 7, De Bruyne 7, Bernardo Silva 7*; Mahrez 5, Foden 6, Sterling 5.

Subs: Dias 6, Fernandinho 6, Palmer 6.

Burnley: Pope 7; Lowton 6, Tarkowski 7, Collins 7, Pieters 6; Brownhill 6, Cork 6, Westwood 6, McNeil 7, Cornet 6; Wood 5.

Subs: Barnes 6, Gundmundsson 6, Rodriguez 6.

81' McNeil's free kick is won by Collins and Wood then on the stretch shoots from six yards out, clipping the top of the crossbar.

70' GOAL FOR CITY! De Bruyne slams home with his left foot after it appeared Mahrez had been felled in the penalty area. With the ball rifling unerringly in the penalty area, we may never know if the referee would have given a spot kick.

36' From nowhere, Cork has an age of space in the box and his low cross is blocked by Stones to Brownhill eight yards out but his shot is wide of the target. As good a chance as Burnley will get.

12' GOAL FOR CITY! Bernardo Silva slots home from close range after Foden's shot was saved on the stretch by Pope giving the Portuguese star an easy finish.

8 - Burnley have lost eight straight games away to Manchester City.