Haaland Back in the Groove with Double as Man City Win at Burnley

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (L) speaks with Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland as they leave the pitch at half-time during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Manchester City at Turf Moor in Burnley, northwest England on August 11, 2023. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (L) speaks with Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland as they leave the pitch at half-time during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Manchester City at Turf Moor in Burnley, northwest England on August 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Haaland Back in the Groove with Double as Man City Win at Burnley

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (L) speaks with Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland as they leave the pitch at half-time during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Manchester City at Turf Moor in Burnley, northwest England on August 11, 2023. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (L) speaks with Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland as they leave the pitch at half-time during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Manchester City at Turf Moor in Burnley, northwest England on August 11, 2023. (AFP)

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland wasted no time opening his account for the new Premier League season with two goals as the champions began their title defense with a 3-0 stroll against promoted Burnley at Turf Moor on Friday.

Haaland, who bagged a Premier League season-record 36 goals and a total of 52 in all competitions for treble winners City last season, slotted his side in front after four minutes.

A stunning finish by the Norwegian in the 36th put City in cruise control with the only blot on their copybook being an injury to Kevin de Bruyne that forced him off in the first half.

Rodri drove home City's third from close range after 75 minutes to make it a chastening return to the top flight for a Burnley side managed by former City captain Vincent Kompany.

To complete the home side's misery they had substitute Anass Zaroury sent off in stoppage time for an ugly tackle on Kyle Walker, the decision being upgraded from a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson after a VAR check.

If anyone thought 23-year-old Haaland might struggle to match the record-smashing exploits of his first season in England, or whether it might take him a while to get up to speed, they were given an immediate answer.

He looked razor sharp from the opening whistle as City, who had no new faces in their starting lineup, sent out an early warning to any side trying to prevent them from winning a fourth successive English title.

"We started well. We found a goal, we struggled a bit after. We gave away balls, our pass created problems but after a while we played much, much better," Guardiola said.

Poacher’s goal

Haaland's opening goal was a typical poacher's effort, pouncing to jab a shot past goalkeeper James Trafford after Rodri headed a De Bruyne cross back into the area.

Burnley recovered from that early setback quite well and almost punished City for some sloppiness when Lyle Foster curled a shot past the far post.

De Bruyne did not last much longer though, limping off to be replaced by new signing Mateo Kovacic after 23 minutes.

But that did not disrupt City's rhythm and they doubled their lead when a patient build-up ended with Julian Alvarez teeing up Haaland who dispatched a clinical curling effort with his left foot into the net via the far post.

The second half was a lesson in game management by City who were content to run the legs out of Burnley.

They added a third when Rodri, scorer of the goal in the Champions League final exactly two months ago that sealed City's treble, thumped home after Burnley failed to deal with a set-piece played into their penalty area.

Haaland was substituted late on while City also offered a late cameo to new defensive signing Josko Gvardiol.

Burnley's big night did not go to plan on or off the field with the club apologizing for an object being thrown at City's Rico Lewis in the first half.

Kompany, who won two of his four City titles under Guardiola, knows his team must learn quickly.

"You can't feel good with a defeat, but I've seen enough to know we have made progress since the last time we played them," he said, referring to a 6-0 FA Cup quarter-final loss last term.

"This is going to be the worst we play this season, this team is only going to get stronger."



Dakar Rally Comes Down to a Duel in the Sand between Lategan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi

 Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Dakar Rally Comes Down to a Duel in the Sand between Lategan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi

 Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)

Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day Wednesday.

South Africa's Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes. Friday's last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah.

Al-Rajhi led by seven minutes before the 10th stage, a tricky 120-kilometer loop south of Shubaytah on Wednesday. But he got stuck and relinquished the overall lead back to Lategan.

“We got stuck because we were taking it easy,” Al-Rajhi said. “Everything is going good, that's the most important (thing). I have a good position, I hope.”

Lategan also took it easy but without finding any trouble, and was 10th on the stage, making up minutes on all of his nearest pursuers.

“It wasn't the plan to go quickly today,” Lategan said.

On Thursday, he will start 10th and Al-Rajhi 27th and they can push harder by taking advantage of the tracks of those in front.

'Most disappointing day of my life'

Third-placed Mattias Ekström fell two minutes further back to 27 minutes, and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah lost five minutes to drop back to 30.

Al-Attiyah, the only former champion with an outside title shot, got lost about nine kilometers in.

“I'm very disappointed, but what can you do?” Al-Attiyah said. “We had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. This is the most disappointing day of my life.”

Spain's Nani Roma, one of only three men to win the Dakar in a car (2014) and motorbike (2004), won his first stage in nine years by 18 seconds from Lucas Moraes of Brazil. Brian Baragwanath of South Africa was third.

Sanders on the brink

Australian rider Daniel Sanders was on the brink of his first Dakar title in a motorbike race he's dominated from stage one.

Sanders was fourth on the 116-kilometer stage but ahead of his nearest rivals, extending his overall lead by about two minutes against Spain's Tosha Schareina and France's Adrien van Beveren.

The advantage over Schareina was 16 1/2 minutes, the biggest in the race so far.

“It's pretty much survival tomorrow and just get(ting) through,” Sanders said. “I think we'll be all right. I felt really good in the navigation and I was opening a little bit and then, yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.”

Portugal's Rui Gonçalves won his maiden stage in his fifth Dakar by nearly four minutes from Slovakia's Stefan Svitko. American Skyler Howes was third.