<p><a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/city-begin-epl-title-defence-v-burnley-23302580" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Manchester City</strong></a> could be without Kevin De Bruyne for a number of weeks after he suffered the recurrence of a hamstring injury as the defending champions opened the Premier League season with a 3-0 win at Burnley on Friday.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/not-messi-or-ronaldo-erling-haaland-is-soccer-next-global-superstar-23291205" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Erling Haaland</strong></a>&nbsp; scored twice before Rodri completed the scoring to give City a perfect start to their quest to become the first side to win four consecutive English top-flight titles.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But the night was soured for Pep Guardiola&rsquo;s men by the sight of De Bruyne limping off midway through the first-half. The Belgian had suffered a hamstring tear in City&rsquo;s Champions League final victory over Inter Milan two months ago.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>&lsquo;De Bruyne was injured again&rsquo;</h2>
<p>&ldquo;He was injured again unfortunately,&rdquo; said Guardiola. &ldquo;Same place and position as the Champions League and he will be out for a while. It depends on the magnitude but will be a few weeks out. He has to free [his] mind and relax because he came back from that position [previous injuries] and he will be back now.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Burnley&rsquo;s 2022/23 season finished over a month before City&rsquo;s European Cup final win in Istanbul. Guardiola has bemoaned his side&rsquo;s short pre-season compared to their rivals, but they were quick out of the blocks. &ldquo;We are still not in our best [physical] form but we have to try to not drop many points in that period,&rdquo; added Guardiola.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a question of mentality and we were fortunate to break the game early. A lot of teams are going to suffer here, so that is why I am so pleased.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Haaland fired City to the treble last season by scoring 52 times in his first year at the club. The 23-year-old took just over three minutes of the new campaign to open his tally once more when he swept home Rodri&rsquo;s header across goal after a well-worked corner between De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Burnley boss Vincent Kompany has a statue outside City&rsquo;s Etihad Stadium in honour of his decorated playing career with the English champions. Kompany returned the Clarets back to the EPL at the first time of asking and transformed Burnley&rsquo;s playing style in the process during his first season in charge.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/women-football-on-the-rise-and-for-the-better-23303042" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Women&rsquo;s football on the rise and for the better!</a></strong></p>
<h2>Clinical finisher missed</h2>
<p>Despite the scoreline, the home side were far from outclassed but paid for the lack of a clinical finisher like Haaland. Luca Koleosho and Zeki Amdouni missed good chances to equalise, while Amdouni also had a penalty appeal turned down.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;There were a lot of periods of the game where we did ourselves proud,&rdquo; said Kompany.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Burnley&rsquo;s miserable night was rounded off in stoppage time when Anass Zaroury was shown a straight red card for a wild challenge on Walker.&nbsp;</p>
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Man City striker Erling scores brace as defending champs register 3-0 win over Burnley

Erling Haaland scores twice as Man City open Premier League season with a win

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Erling Haaland scores twice as Man City open Premier League season with a win

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