Erling Haaland’s brilliant brace helped Manchester City kick off their quest for an unprecedented fourth straight top-flight title with victory at promoted Burnley. Just two months on from winning the Champions League to become the second treble winners in English football history, Pep Guardiola’s men returned to competitive action with a bang at Turf Moor. Star man Haaland’s excellent first-half double and a close-range Rodri effort did the damage as City ran out 3-0 winners in the Premier League curtain raiser at Vincent Kompany’s Burnley. The 23-year-old frontman swept the visitors ahead 184 seconds into the new campaign and, with his side having lost skipper Kevin De Bruyne to injury, struck a stunning second off the underside of the bar. That display was not enough to avoid being chided by Guardiola as the teams made their way off at half-time, with the City boss pushing away a TV camera as he berated the striker. Rodri completed the scoring and Burnley substitute Anass Zaroury received a contentious late red card, with Community Shield runners-up City now turning their attention to Wednesday’s Super Cup clash against Sevilla. Both sets of players took the knee before kick-off and initial boos were drowned out by cheers at Turf Moor, where the hosts were behind after just three minutes and four seconds. De Bruyne took a short corner and, following a couple of passes, lifted a cross to the far post, where Rodri headed back across goal for Haaland to direct home impressively. It was a gut punch that De Bruyne tried to add to from distance, but the champions of the Championship stuck to Kompany’s principles. Burnley penalty appeals fell on deaf ears when Zeki Amdouni went down under pressure from Manuel Akanji before Luca Koleosho missed the target after fine, composed build-up. Amdouni wriggled free to get a shot on Ederson’s goal as Burnley continued to threaten City, whose youngster Rico Lewis was hit by an object thrown from the stands. The Lancashire club later confirmed the individual responsible had been identified and removed from the ground by police and now faces a banning order. Lewis was all right to continue, but De Bruyne soon had to leave the field. The skipper recently returned from a hamstring injury and, seemingly out of nothing, signalled to the bench that he had felt something, leading to Mateo Kovacic’s introduction. Burnley quickly attempted to capitalise. Amdouni was stopped by Rodri before the midfielder saw a pass cut out and Lyle Foster bent narrowly wide. But the hosts’ hopes of a comeback were short-lived as Haaland scored an incredible second in the 36th minute. Kyle Walker raced down the right and cut back to Julian Alvarez, who laid off for the Norwegian sharpshooter to sweep a first-time strike in off the underside of the bar. Haaland may have been on course for a hat-trick, but something had upset Guardiola, who pulled him back and scolded him before pushing the away a camera. The striker remained on as the visitors began the second half on top, with James Trafford – signed from City in the summer – tipping over a Rodri effort from distance and then saving a header from the Champions League final matchwinner. Alvarez fired off target after a show of strength by Haaland before City struck a third in the 75th minute as the match appeared to be petering out. Burnley failed to effectively clear a crossed free-kick and Rodri lashed home from five yards after Nathan Ake was blocked out. Alvarez saw a shot blocked before Josko Gvardiol came on for his City debut, with Haaland booed by the Burnley faithful when withdrawn as part of a triple City change. Guardiola made a point of getting up to give Haaland a warm greeting after their earlier exchange. Stewards reacted quickly as a fan attempted to get on the pitch towards the end of a night that had seen Burnley impress against mightily tough opposition. Things got worse for the promoted Clarets. Substitute Zaroury was sent off in stoppage time after his tackle on Walker was judged serious foul play after referee Craig Pawson watched the incident back on the VAR’s instruction. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Anthony Joshua focused only on Robert Helenius amid Deontay Wilder speculation Harry Kane arrives in Germany to seal Bayern Munich move Ally Ewing out to emulate Brian Harman with Open win

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Already-qualified England complete their Euro 2024 qualification campaign away to North Macedonia on Monday evening. Ahead of the Group C finale in Skopje, the PA news agency has looked at five of the main talking points. England attempt to end year unbeaten Gareth Southgate’s men have ultimately cruised to qualification from a potentially tricky pool, going unbeaten across 2023 in the process. England have not looked back since rebounding from their World Cup quarter-final defeat to France by winning at reigning European champions Italy, going on to qualify with two games to spare. They all but sealed a place in the top pot for next month’s Euro 2024 draw by beating Malta 2-0 on Friday, taking this year’s record to eight wins in nine matches in all competitions. Southgate says he wants to end the year on a high and wants to build momentum by going go undefeated all the way through to Euro 2024. Final foreign assignment before the Euros England face March tests against Brazil and Belgium in Wembley friendlies, with another couple of home matches lined-up as Southgate’s side fine-tune for their shot at glory in Germany. It means Monday’s qualifier in Skopje will be their final match on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in June, with Southgate saying it will be good to be in “a challenging environment because that’s what we’re going to be in next summer”. There will be 2,332 travelling fans at the sold out 32,000-capacity Tose Proeski Arena, which may also end up playing host to Southgate’s final qualifier as England boss. How will Southgate juggle his selection? Southgate has dealt with a disruptive build-up and saw his already absentee-hit selection compounded by five of his initial group withdrawing through injury. A further three players have been absent for periods for the meet-up due to personal reasons, with Kieran Trippier among those and leaving the camp on Sunday. It means England have travelled to Skopje with just 22 players and Southgate is having to balance load, fitness and freshness for a potential dead rubber that will see wholesale changes. Cole Palmer will be hoping to make his first start after making his debut off the bench on Friday. The Chelsea talent was a late call-up along with Ezri Konsa and Rico Lewis, who will be hoping to win their first cap in the Balkans. Can back-up attackers impress? Record goalscorer Harry Kane would love to have the chance to pad his stats in Skopje, but surely Southgate will use this opportunity to give Ollie Watkins a run out as number nine. No England striker has been able to nail down a position as back-to the skipper but the in-form Aston Villa striker has a great chance with Ivan Toney banned and Callum Wilson suspended. Jarrod Bowen is another that needs to grasp his opportunity if Southgate turn his way. Selecting the 26-year-old over Raheem Sterling is a show of faith but the five-cap forward has so far failed to take his West Ham performances onto the international stage. Macedonian revenge mission North Macedonia were blown away in June’s reverse fixture at Old Trafford, where they were a far cry from the side that had recently shocked Germany and Italy. Kane struck twice in a 7-0 annihilation that also saw Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips get in on the act, but Bukayo Saka was the star of the show with his tremendous treble. Head coach Blagoja Milevski apologised to the nation in the post-match press conference and said on Sunday that he pledged to show a “new face” in the rematch. Given they held the Azzurri to a 1-1 draw in Skopje two months ago, it would be a shock if they are not vastly improved.

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Manchester City face arch-rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Here, the PA news agency looks at how Pep Guardiola’s side made it to Wembley. Man City 4 Chelsea 0 (third round, Jan 8) City sailed through with surprising ease as Chelsea put up little resistance at the Etihad Stadium just three days after a hard-fought Premier League clash between the sides at Stamford Bridge. A superb Riyad Mahrez free-kick, a Julian Alvarez penalty and a Phil Foden effort effectively wrapped up the contest in the first half. Mahrez completed the scoring from the spot late on. Man City 1 Arsenal 0 (fourth round, Jan 27) City edged a tight and entertaining game that lived up to its pre-match billing as a heavyweight contest. A tidy finish from defender Nathan Ake, placing a shot into the bottom corner after good work from Jack Grealish, settled the tie in the 64th minute. Bristol City 0 Man City 3 (fifth round, Feb 28) Foden struck twice as City saw off their Championship hosts with little alarm. The England midfielder opened the scoring after seven minutes when he turned home a low Mahrez ball at the back post and made victory certain with a deflected effort after the break. Kevin De Bruyne added a brilliant third with a low curling shot from outside the area. Man City 6 Burnley 0 (quarter-finals, Mar 18) City gave their former captain Vincent Kompany a hero’s reception on his return to the Etihad – but showed his Championship-leading side little mercy on the field. The prolific Erling Haaland, who had smashed five past RB Leipzig just days earlier, helped himself to a hat-trick as the Clarets were put to the sword. Alvarez weighed in with a double and Cole Palmer also got on the scoresheet in the rout. Man City 3 Sheff Utd 0 (semi-finals, Apr 22) Another promotion-challenging Championship side failed to lay a glove on City as Guardiola’s men booked a return to the final for the first time in four years after three successive semi-final defeats. Mahrez took centre-stage by scoring the first FA Cup semi-final hat-trick since 1958 and the first at Wembley. The Blades were made to rue missing a gilt-edged early chance through Iliman Ndiaye as Mahrez grabbed his first from the spot, ran through the defence for a fine solo second and swept in to complete his treble. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How managers Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag fare ahead of FA Cup final How Manchester United reached the FA Cup final for a 21st time Former Wrexham defender Neil Taylor warns club to avoid ‘circus’ over signings