Kompany hails City’s options as ‘frightening’

Not for the first time on Pep Guardiola’s watch, Manchester City’s glittering array of attacking talent stole the headlines – along with an outburst from Sean Dyche – although his title rivals would be just as well advised to look, fearfully, at the other end of the field.

Five goals – from different players – may have left City scoring at a superior rate than in last season’s record-breaking 106-goal campaign. But Guardiola’s defence is every bit as impressive.

A fifth consecutive Premier League clean sheet completed 510 minutes without conceding, a run dating back to Sept 1, and a better defensive performance than over the corresponding opening nine games of last season.

This despite injuries to Kyle Walker and Danilo, both suffered during the international break, forcing City to play centre-half John Stones at right-back here.

Little wonder then that Vincent Kompany, 32, playing alongside three colleagues all aged 24 in Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy, described his manager’s defensive options as “frightening”.

“I think it’s more a requirement for the modern player,” said Kompany of his colleagues’ versatility. “You look around football managers changing formations all the time. You can’t make more than three changes, so you need to have players on the pitch who have flexibility – and John epitomises that.

“I think Aymeric, as well. If you have youth on your side, it’s easier to shift. I’d have been able to do it when I signed here, but with age you get more locked to a natural position. It’s what is required in modern football, and these guys can do it. The manager has so many tools at his disposal it is frightening at times.”

Precisely the same adjective applies to Guardiola’s attacking options, of course, the City manager opting to rest Raheem Sterling despite the forward enjoying a productive week on the international stage with England.

With the former City goalkeeper, Joe Hart, impressing on his first return to the Etihad, Sergio Aguero’s 16th-minute finish was City’s only goal of the first half, although the floodgates opened in the second.

Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho hit the target within two minutes of each other before the hour, and late goals from Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane completed the rout. Walker may be fit to return in tomorrow’s Champions League visit to Shakhtar Donetsk, although Stones – after some rocky periods during his first two seasons under Guardiola – proved an able deputy.

Still, that second goal remained a great bone of contention for Burnley, whose players inexplicably stopped playing after a City penalty appeal and allowed David Silva to pull the ball back from the by-line, where it appeared to have gone out of play, for Bernardo to score.

Dyche was also adamant that Kompany, after 30 seconds and a foul on Aaron Lennon, and Sane should both have been shown straight reds, rather than yellows.

“It certainly wasn’t on purpose,” said Kompany of his incident. “Luckily he wasn’t injured, so that’s the main thing.”

Jack Cork, the Burnley midfielder, was involved in the controversial second goal, his contact with Sane provoking the penalty appeal and his team’s bizarre choice to stop playing, and he echoed his manager’s frustrations.

“There were just a few things leading up to the second goal, though we shouldn’t have stopped for the penalty call,” said Cork.

“It looks like the ball has gone out of play, but it’s a good finish. There were also the two tackles that could have been yellow cards, which is frustrating, because if that’s us, maybe it goes the other way.”