Manchester City’s title hopes suffered a major blow as they failed to close the gap on leaders Chelsea following a shock 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Burnley.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men were sluggish throughout and deservedly slumped to a fifth league defeat of the campaign courtesy of George Boyd’s thunderous half volley just past the hour.
The Citizens now face an increasingly uphill task to retain the championship with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea not only boasting a significant five-point lead – but also the bonus of two games in hand.
The result was no more than the Clarets deserved and Sean Dyche’s men will now head into the remainder of the season with renewed belief they can avoid the drop after moving to within a point of safety.
City did have a late shout for a penalty when Pablo Zabaleta went down under a challenge from Ben Mee, but the referee failed to give the spot kick.