Manchester City ended Arsenal’s six-month stay on the Premier League summit and condemned Burnley to relegation with a laboured 1-0 victory at Turf Moor on Wednesday.
Erling Haaland’s clinical finish after five minutes could have paved the way for a boost to City’s goal difference but it lacked a cutting edge as Burnley dug deep.
Haaland hit the post and had other chances as City tried to give itself a safety margin but Pep Guardiola’s side had to make do with a surprisingly narrow victory.
After reeling Arsenal in, it now leads the table on goals scored with both sides on 70 points from 33 games and with an identical goal difference of plus 37.
For Scott Parker’s Burnley, the inevitable has now become a reality as it is stuck on 20 points, 13 points behind the safety zone with only four games remaining.
City’s fans sang “we are top of the league” at the final whistle as their team hit the top but it was with a mixture of relief as it could never truly relax.
Arsenal has led the race since early October but has stalled in April and Haaland’s winner in a 2-1 victory against it at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday gave City the edge.
With the race so tight, however, it would have expected to sweep Burnley aside by a wider margin on Wednesday and given itself an edge on goal difference.
It certainly looked that way at the start as Burnley ‘keeper Martin Dubravka made a great save from Rayan Cherki before Haaland was played through and the Norwegian advanced before dinking a subtle left-footed finish past the goalie.
City had 10 goal attempts before the break although Burnley was a threat with Jaidon Anthony having an early shot saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma while Zian Flemming shot wide.
Antoine Semenyo poked a chance over the bar early in the second half and Haaland drifted a shot against the post as City strained for a second goal.
In the end, it was a nervous finale as Burnley won a corner deep in stoppage time with Dubravka sent forward, but City avoided any stumble to take the points.
Published on Apr 23, 2026
