Raheem Sterling could not mark his return to Manchester City's starting line-up with a goal but Kevin de Bruyne made certain his side still beat Burnley after Bernardo Silva's early strike.

City had won 5-0 on each of the Clarets' past four visits to Etihad Stadium and it seemed like a similar scoreline was on the cards when the impressive Silva followed up Phil Foden's shot to give the home side an early lead.

There was to be no glut of goals on this occasion, however. Although City dominated possession and created plenty of chances, they failed to extend their advantage, giving the visitors hope.

Burnley gave them a few scares before De Bruyne added a second goal with 20 minutes to go, curling his shot home when the ball broke to him inside the box.

Afterwards, City manager Pep Guardiola said: "After the international break it's always a little bit difficult to come to a rhythm and I know how good Burnley are. They did really well, they have good players and we played a good 15-20 minutes in the first-half, we created chances and the last 20 minutes we lost some tempo. We did well in the second half and played really well and could've scored more goals. Good result, after the international break we take the victory and look what's next.

"We run and fight for every ball, Burnley play for long balls and they're a master at this. You have to defend set pieces well and anything could've happened if Chris Wood had scored that goal near the end. We had chances but couldn't score more unfortunately.

"The importance is improving our game I am satisfied that the second-half was better than first. The team showed me the way we want to play and the shape we want to play in. All the guys gave everything, it doesn't matter if the performance is good or not, it's important that you fight for your teammates and everyone was incredible."