The Liverpool manager had jokingly offered to sign the Burnley striker if he scored against title rivals Manchester CityOnce bitten, twice shy. All week Manchester City had been warned that Burnley, a banana skin and wrecking ball in one grimly-organised package, had it in their gift to ruin everything. They had been held to a draw here 14 months ago, not that it ultimately mattered, and the thought of a repeat was enough to set spines tingling across Merseyside. Yet by the end it was Ilkay Gündogan, rather than a home player, who was being yellow carded for delaying a set-piece and City, as opposed to Jürgen Klopp’s team, who again wrested a level of control they are unlikely to let slip. You might not thrash Burnley here; you might only edge past them by 29.51mm. This, though, felt like a deflating blow for City’s rivals given the hopes they had invested in the buildup.This cleanest-cut of title races had finally been injected with a shot of mild mischief by Klopp. He had taken the trouble to observe that Turf Moor was not a venue he would wish upon his own side in high-stakes circumstances; Keegan versus Ferguson it was not, partly because Pep Guardiola refused to play along, but as a minimum it enhanced the idea that the south Pennines might be the place league-winning dreams go to die. Related: Sergio Agüero steers Manchester City towards title with Burnley victory Related: Jamie Vardy double seals Leicester victory over 10-man Arsenal Continue readingreadfullarticle
