Man City broke into the Champions League places after destroying Burnley 6-1 at a sodden Turf Moor.
Mancini's men run riot at a rainy Turf Moor
Manchester City broke into the UEFA Champions League places after a devastating first-half display helped to destroy Burnley 6-1 at a sodden Turf Moor.
Following Tottenham's defeat at Sunderland earlier in the day, City had the chance to move into fourth spot and it was an opportunity Roberto Mancini's side accepted with relish.
Burnley contributed to their own downfall by conceding four goals inside the opening 20 minutes - the first of which arrived on four minutes through Emmanuel Adebayor's drilled finish from a corner after Adam Johnson's shot had deflected wide via the post.
City scored a second less than two minutes later as Craig Bellamy rolled the ball home after collecting a pass from Carlos Tevez, who notched the third on seven minutes with a close-range tap-in after Brian Jensen had parried Adebayor's shot.
Patrick Vieira headed home Johnson's corner for the fourth goal and Adebayor raced on to Tevez's pass for City's fifth just before the half-time whistle.
Heavy rain briefly threatened an abandonment in the second half, but there was no respite in the City onslaught as a sixth goal arrived on 58 minutes when Vincent Kompany headed home another Johnson corner.
The Clarets, three points adrift of safety, scored a consolation on 72 minutes through Steven Fletcher, but by then many inside Turf Moor had left, with some having headed home after just 10 minutes.
Johnson saw a shot take a deflection off a defender and rattle the post before the visitors made the breakthrough in the fourth minute.
Burnley were guilty of slack marking when Johnson delivered a corner from the left and Adebayor took advantage to rifle in a shot that seemed to take a deflection on the way in.
Basic error
A minute later it got even worse for the home side when Bellamy latched on to a through ball from Tevez and guided it past Jensen.
The Burnley goalkeeper conceded a third in the seventh minute after making a basic error. He spilled Adebayor's weak shot and Tevez was on hand for his 26th goal of the season.
Burnley hit back, however, with Robbie Blake dragging a shot narrowly wide.
City extended their lead in the 20th minute with Vieira's first goal for the club. He powered home a header following a corner from Johnson.
Burnley were refusing to lie down and Graham Alexander whipped in a shot from the edge of the area in the 27th minute that went narrowly over the crossbar.
This was a spirited response by the home side and six minutes later Fletcher dragged a shot wide of the post.
David Nugent then saw a header blocked by City goalkeeper Shay Given before Jensen found himself in difficulty again.
He pushed away a shot from Adebayor but Vieira found himself crowded out as he prepared to latch on to the rebound.
Rousing reception
Jensen looked out of sorts and he was beaten again in the 44th minute only for Tevez's effort to come back off the post after being released by Bellamy.
City did not have long to wait for another goal, however, with Adebayor extending their lead with a clinical finish after being released by Tevez.
Burnley almost pulled a goal back in the 51st minute when Nugent showed a good turn of pace only to find the wrong side of the post with his effort.
However seven minutes later the home side failed to deal with another Johnson corner and Kompany headed home for his first goal of the season.
It was the third time Burnley had failed to deal with one of the former Middlesbrough winger's corners and conceded a goal in the process.
Burnley fans at last had something to cheer in the 72nd minute when Fletcher pulled a goal back with a good finish after being set up by substitute Jack Cork.
Adebayor was given a rousing reception by the visiting fans 12 minutes later when he was replaced by former Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz as City wrapped up a stroll in the park.
| Burnley |
Team Statistics |
Manchester City |
| 1 |
Goals |
6 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
5 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
9 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 6 |
Corners |
7 |
| 8 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.8 |
Passing Success |
76 |
| 14 |
Tackles |
13 |
| 64.3 |
Tackles Success |
92.3 |
| 45.3 |
Possession |
54.7 |
| 48 |
Territorial Advantage |
52 |
|
