It was a humbling return to the Etihad Stadium for former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany. Now managing Burnley he brought the Championship leaders to Manchester with the hopes of causing an FA Cup upset but instead his team where on the receiving end of another Erling Haaland masterclass.
For 30 minutes Burnley held their own, pressing well and keeping the Premier League champions at bay in the final third. Haaland then combined with Alvarez to poke home the opener before adding a second three minutes later following a great run from Phil Foden to send City into the break two goals to the good.
Four more were added in the second half. City upped the tempo and went through the gears. Foden’s strike off the post fell to Haaland who drilled it home to complete his hat-trick before Julian Alvarez banged in a brace himself. To add to Burnley’s woes Cole Palmer came off the bench and nodded home a simple chance to send City into the semi-finals.
If it had the air of a unique occasion for an icon of Manchester City’s past, it was just business as usual their current idol. Vincent Kompany made his first competitive return to the Etihad Stadium since his seminal, sensational goal against Leicester in 2019 and his sudden exit, to the ground with his statue outside and to the club he helped turn into relentless winners.
And then, with precious little romance and typical ruthlessness, Erling Haaland condemned City’s greatest captain to his heaviest defeat as Burnley manager. For the Clarets, who lost 5-0 at the Etihad four times under Sean Dyche, it was a still heavier beating.
Kompany’s last act as a City player, the day before he announced his departure, was to lift the FA Cup. With Pep Guardiola’s side in the semi-finals for the fifth time in six seasons, Ilkay Gundogan may join him in the select group of their FA Cup-winning skippers.
Haaland had broken a 94-year-old record for most goals in a season for City without finding the net in the FA Cup – in mitigation, he had only previously played once in the competition – but he duly scored his sixth hat-trick of the campaign and second in four days.
Man City 6-0 Burnley: Julian Alvarez scored a brace and Cole Palmer was also on the scoresheet.
