Pep Guardiola yells at Erling Haaland as Manchester City beat Burnley 3-0.

Erling Haaland kicked off the Premier League season with a bang, scoring twice in Manchester City’s 3-0 triumph over promoted Burnley.

After Haaland’s first-half double, Rodri finished the scoring to give City the perfect start to their quest to become the first team to win four successive English Premier League titles.

Pep Guardiola yells at Erling Haaland as Manchester City beat Burnley 3-0.

Haaland led City to a quadruple of Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup triumph last season, scoring 52 goals in his debut season.

The 23-year-old took little over three minutes of the new season to add to his score when he scooped home Rodri’s header across goal.

Haaland then smashed a shot off the underside of the bar nine minutes before halftime, smoothing over the cracks of the visitors’ far from flawless opening 45 minutes.

The ease with which Pep Guardiola’s men glided to win after the interval, on the other hand, was an alarming indication for the chasing pack attempting to dethrone City.

Rodri scored the scoring 15 minutes from time by slamming in a loose ball from a free kick.

City’s night, though, was marred by captain Kevin De Bruyne’s injury. The Belgian had just recently returned from a hamstring rupture sustained in the Champions League final, and walked out in the first half.

Guardiola appeared dissatisfied with Haaland’s first-half performance, shouting at him and shoving a camera during the halftime break.

Pep wasn't happy with Haaland then pushes the camera 😭 pic.twitter.com/XBrwaSE0rv https://t.co/jDUBpG14AU

— Alex 👋 (@Dubs408) August 11, 2023

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany has a statue outside Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium commemorating his distinguished playing career with the English champions.

During his first season in command, Kompany returned the Clarets to the Premier League at the first attempt and altered Burnley’s playing style.

Despite the score, the home team was far from outclassed, but they paid for a poor start and the absence of a clinical finisher like Haaland.

Burnley’s 2022/23 season ended more than a month before City won the European Cup final in Istanbul.

Guardiola has criticised his team’s short pre-season compared to their opponents, but they were fast to get going.

A well-worked corner by De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden eventually found Rodri, who headed home by Haaland.

Erling Haaland of Manchester City.

Burnley were denied a penalty moments later after Manuel Akanji’s grip on Zeki Amdouni’s arm was deemed insufficient for a spot-kick.

Burnley posed a greater danger for long periods of the first half, with Luca Koleosho firing over and Amdouni shooting too near to Ederson.

They were caught off guard, however, when Julian Alvarez deflected Kyle Walker’s cross into the path of Haaland, who produced an unstoppable strike high past Burnley debutant keeper James Trafford.

With the wind taken from Burnley’s sails, City took a stranglehold of the game after the break without ever having to hit top gear.

Rodri was the unlikely hero with the only goal in Istanbul two months ago and he started the new season as he finished the last by smashing home from close range after a goalmouth scramble.

Burnley’s miserable night was rounded off in stoppage time when Anass Zaroury was shown a straight red card for a wild challenge on Kyle Walker.