City bounce back from their European woes to smash five past hapless Cardiff
▶ Burnley secure their first win of the season, while Mitrovic’s strike earns Fulham a point
Pep Guardiola paid tribute to the character of his Manchester City players after they bounced back from their Uefa Champions League setback in midweek with an emphatic 5-0 win at Cardiff City yesterday.
The Premier League champions were beaten 2-1 by Lyon on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium, but they quickly put that setback behind them as Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan were all on target as Riyad Mahrez grabbed a double.
Guardiola told the BBC: “After a not good result in midweek, we responded with the same level we had for the last 12 or 13 months.
“In the second half at 3-0, you relax, you forget what you have to do, but we were consistent, we didn’t suffer too much and we created a good game.
Mahrez’s second-half double were his first goals for City since joining the club from Leicester City in the summer, and Guardiola is confident more is to come from the Algerian in the months ahead.
“He came here, he’s an incredibly talented player,” Guardiola added. “He deserves to play more minutes, like Phil Foden. But the season is too long and they have to be ready, prepared, because they are going to play a lot of minutes.”
Elsewhere yesterday, Burnley picked up their first league win of the season as they cruised to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Bournemouth.
Matej Vydra, Aaron Lennon and two from Ashley Barnes eased the pressure on Sean Dyche’s side, who had lost four of their first five games.
Dyche said of the victory: “I was pleased with our energy and control of the game early on.
“We were making chances, forcing them back and being creative in different ways – they were four good goals for different reasons.”
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s fifth goal of the season salvaged a point for Fulham as they came from behind at Craven Cottage to draw 1-1 with Watford.
Andre Gray had given Watford an early lead, but Mitrovic tapped home from close range with 12 minutes remaining to please Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic, who felt his side had been as good in the second half as they had been poor in the first period.
Of altering his line-up at half-time, he said: “I make two changes; if I’d had the opportunity I would have made four, I would do it,” he said.
“Credit for the team, they showed a different level in the second 45 minutes and changed the story.”
Leicester bounced back from conceding an early goal to pick up their third victory of the season as they won 3-1 against winless Huddersfield Town.
Mathias Jorgensen put the visitors in front early on with only their third goal of the campaign but Kelechi Iheanacho quickly equalised.
Second-half goals from James Maddison and Jamie Vardy sealed victory for Leicester, who returned to winning ways following successive defeats against Liverpool and Bournemouth.
Newcastle United also remain without a win this season after six games, but they did pick up their second point of the campaign as they played out a goalless draw at Crystal Palace.
Rafa Benitez, the Newcastle manager, said: “A point is a point, I expected we would take our chances on the counter, but we didn’t do well.”
In today’s action, Chelsea will look to maintain their 100 per cent record and draw level at the top with Liverpool if they can triumph at London rivals West Ham United.
Chelsea played in Greece on Thursday in the Europa League at PAOK Salonika and manager Maurizio Sarri believes his side should have been given extra time by the league to prepare for the game.
“In Italy if you are playing in the Champions League you can ask to play the match before on a Friday or Saturday,” Sarri said. “If you play in the Europa League away, not at home, you can ask to play on the Monday night. I think this is right.
“If you want to be competitive in Europe, I think this is right.
“In England, we cannot ask this so we have to play after 64 hours. It’s not so easy.”
In the day’s other game Arsenal play host to Everton and Unai Emery has challenged the home side to keep their first clean sheet of the season.
Emery’s men have conceded at least one goal in every game and he said: “We also need time, but it’s our first disappointment from the first games of the season. We need to improve this.”