Man City player ratings v Burnley: Seven score 8/10 as Erling Haaland returns in 3-1 win - gallery

Manchester City put in another ominous performance on Wednesday night as they beat Burnley 3-1 to make it eight wins in a row in all competitions.

This was as one-sided an affair as you’ll see in the Premier League this season, and Burnley were limited to just two shots on target through the 90 minutes as it looks increasingly like Vincent Kompany’s side are set for an immediate return to the Championship.

City, on the other hand, are getting back in their groove. Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland are back, while the squad’s fringe members put in impressive displays as the Blues begin their busiest period of the Premier League season.

From the early stages it was a case of when, not if, City would grab the game’s opening goal and it took just 16 minutes for Julian Alvarez to nod the champions in front. Phil Foden’s through ball picked out Matheus Nunes who, at the second time of asking, picked out City’s no.19 for a simple header from a few yards out.

The birthday boy made it 2-0 soon after, when Kevin De Bruyne’s brilliantly disguised free-kick was fizzed into Alvarez’s path rather than crossed into the box. The trick caught out the flat-footed Burnley defence and Alvarez coolly slotted beyond James Trafford to double the hosts’ advantage.

For De Bruyne it was an assist on his first league start in 173 days, which ironically came against Burnley, and there appear to be no ill effects from that five-month layoff with a hamstring problem. The Belgian effortlessly strode around the pitch and sprayed several excellent passes into the wide areas.

One inch-perfect pass picked out Jeremy Doku - starting at the Etihad for the first time in nearly two months - and he indulged his penchant for wounding the pride of visiting full-back. Unsurprisingly, it was down that flank where City looked most potent in the first half and both Nunes and Josko Gvardiol went close after cutting inside and curling efforts towards goal.

Burnley hadn’t scored against City in eight matches prior to Wednesday - Lyle Foster went closest to ending that run for the Clarets in the opening 45 when he got in behind the defence and shot wide to end a one-sided first half.

That continued after the break and it took City just 25 seconds to grab a third. Like in August’s meeting, it was provided by Rodri, who from the edge of the area casually curled the ball round Dara O’Shea and into the bottom corner.

From that point, the pace of the game slowed as City dominated possession without creating many openings. Burnley’s decision to bring on another defender didn’t help matters either, although the Clarets did create two openings on the break as Zeki Amdouni shot over before Josh Brownhill forced Ederson into a rare save in the 64th minute.

The biggest cheer of the night came as Haaland was introduced, even if he did air-kick his first shot of the night. The Norwegian afforded himself a wry smile, with City in a comfortable position.

Comfortable was the operative word of the night, even if Ameen Al-Dakhil did tap tap in at the back post in injury-time to end Burnley's dry in front of goal. Here's how we rated the City players...