Burnley 1 Manchester C 6:MANCHESTER UNITED'S far-flung following routinely poke fun at City's perennial attempts to translate potential into achievement, but the "Blue Moonies" could be about to have the last laugh for once.
Victory in the Mancunian derby at Eastlands in a fortnight would go a long way towards securing Champions League football for City next season, at the same time effectively ending United’s pursuit of a record fourth successive domestic title.
It is a plausible scenario. City have lost only once at home all season, won 4-2 at Stamford Bridge recently and are in vibrant form after rattling in nine goals in two games. Their local rivals, meanwhile, have been beaten twice in five days and even Alex Ferguson accepts they are no longer favourites to win the Premier League.
It seems a long time ago now that the Red Army were chortling at the alarming concession of goals that cost Mark Hughes his job in December. Hughes’ City let in four against United and threes against Burnley, Bolton, Tottenham and Sunderland.
If the 3-3 draw at home to Burnley in November was a low point, Saturday’s drubbing of the same opposition hit a new peak, in that it was City’s biggest away win since the Premier League began. At last it seems Croesus, aka Sheikh Mansour, is starting to get some sort of value for that eye-watering investment.
Burnley, it has to be said, were pathetic. Fittingly, at a sodden Turf Moor, they defended like drips and were three goals down before the mismatch was seven minutes old. However, there is an adage that you can beat only what is in front of you and City did that in style. Five goals to the good by half-time, they might have doubled their score without the deluge that rendered the pitch all but unplayable in the second half.
Roberto Mancini has known some difficult days during his brief tenure, but he was smiling on Saturday night when he spoke of his desire to stay on and supervise the rebirth of a famous old club. There had been renewed talk of him returning to Italy, to manage Juventus, but he denied the speculation: “I want to be with City next season. Yes, Juventus are special, but Manchester City are special, too.”
Mancini acknowledged that his resurgent team were now favourites for the fourth Champions League spot, which had been the minimum requirement laid down by his money-no-object employers, but he cautioned that their run-in was far from easy.
What of poor old Burnley? A small-town club, they were small-minded when they appointed Brian Laws to succeed Owen Coyle in January and they are paying the price. Laws had no credentials for Premier League management and he looks, and sounds, out of his depth. He has won one and lost 12 of his 14 matches in charge.
Shell-shocked after Saturday’s debacle, Laws apologised to supporters for “an awful display”, yet insisted he was getting “full commitment from the players”.
“Performing like that, we’ve got no chance of surviving in the Premier League,” he said, but refused to single out individuals for blame. “We win together and lose together,” he said.
They have “won together” just once, at home to West Ham, and need to do it again at Hull next Saturday if they are not to return, chastened, whence they came.
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