Julian Alvarez celebrated his 24th birthday in style with a superb double as City moved back up to second in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Burnley.
Rodrigo was also on target with a delightful second half strike as Pep Guardiola’s side made it eight successive wins in all competitions.
There was further good news with Kevin De Bruyne at his sublime best in midfield as he claimed yet another assist in his first start since August following surgery.
He was joined by John Stones in the starting line-up after injury while Erling Haaland got his first minutes in nearly two months as a second half substitute.
WHAT HAPPENED
There were some welcome faces returning on and off the pitch with De Bruyne and Stones returning to the City line-up as two of six changes from the side that beat Tottenham, along with Haaland returning to the bench.
Former captain Vincent Kompany also returned, in the Burnley dugout, and received the warm reception from the Etihad fans that his legendary status deserves as well as huge hug from Pep Guardiola, but all friendships were put on hold once the match kicked off.
The Burnley boss was prepared to play the passing football that proved successful in clinching promotion last season but they were almost undone by a free-kick inside five minutes.
Sander Berge yanked back Matheus Nunes as he broke clear and De Bruyne, making his first start in five months, tried his luck from 20 yards with his effort deflected just over the bar.
CITY 3-1 BURNLEY | MATCH GALLERY
Nunes was proving a big threat running through the middle and it was another of his breaks that led to the opener.
The Portuguese international raced onto Phil Foden’s incisive pass and when his low cutback was blocked by Dara O’Shea, he steadied himself to pick out Alvarez with a perfect cross for the birthday boy to head home.
He then doubled City’s lead six minutes later with a cleverly worked free-kick.
Around 30 yards from goal, De Bruyne slid a clever pass down the side of the Clarets wall for Alvarez to finish coolly with a clipped finish.
Former Academy keeper James Trafford was another familiar face and he made a big save deny Nunes his first goal for City with a fierce dive from a tight angle while Josko Gvardiol’s effort from a similar position curled just wide of the far post.
Burnley made it through to half-time without conceding again but were undone inside 25 seconds after the restart.
De Bruyne played a ball inside the full back to release a flying Foden who sprinted clear before squaring to Rodrigo and the Spaniard curled in a delicious third from the edge of the box with a finish reminiscent of his Champions League final winner.
Lyle Foster went close for the visitors with a shot over the bar but it was a rare break from the dominant display from the Blues as we enjoyed more than three quarters of the possession.
Job done, De Bruyne was given a well-earned rest after 70 minutes and left to his name once again ringing around the Etihad.
While the Clarets may have been glad to see the back of him, it led to the introduction of the imposing figure of Haaland.
Seconds after coming on, he made a strong but fair challenge that left O’Shea in discomfort, although it was Rico Lewis who started the real argy-bargy.
The teenager confronted Connor Roberts after a clumsy challenge on Stones. It threatened to boil over until Ederson cleared out the melee with typical bruskness.
Haaland did get a couple of sights of goals. His first saw him driven wide before taking a wild airshot which left him smiling, along with his teammates on the bench, and a far-post header was smuggled out for a corner.
But it was Burnley that scrambled a late goal with Ameen Al-Dakhil turning in David Datro Fofana’s cross to spoil Ederson’s clean sheet.
