With an easy win over struggling Burnley, Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League.
Liverpool's win over Watford earlier in the day had pushed the reigning champions off top for the first time since December 4, but Pep Guardiola's side reacted in spectacular fashion at Turf Moor.
When Raheem Sterling knocked Rodri's cross into the path of Kevin de Bruyne, who had time to choose his location and fire into the top of the goal, City took the lead after only five minutes.
For the second goal, Sterling and De Bruyne collaborated once more, but this time it was Ilkay Gundogan who scored - a cool volley past Nick Pope after Sterling found him in space inside the box.
City were in perfect control at this point and could afford to have Sterling, Jack Grealish, and replacement Gabriel Jesus waste wonderful chances because Burnley never looked like staging a comeback.
After 75 minutes, the home side finally got a shot on target, when replacement Jay Rodriguez forced a diving save from Ederson, but they can take few positives from their fourth consecutive defeat other than the fact that their goal difference was not significantly harmed.
Burnley has remained in the bottom three, while City can go into next Sunday's top-of-the-table showdown with Liverpool knowing that if they avoid loss, they will remain in first position.
More goals should have been scored by City.
City have a busy week ahead of them, with the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday and the arrival of Jurgen Klopp's in-form Liverpool the following Sunday - the start of a two-game series against both teams.
Those are the games that will define City's season, but first and foremost, they needed to focus on this test, which they nearly flawlessly completed.
After Josh Brownhill's early header flashed wide for the hosts, De Bruyne's early strike calmed the anxieties of the travelling fans, and the points were never in doubt after that.
Burnley did not even get close to the ball, much alone City's penalty area, for lengthy stretches of time, while City seemed satisfied to preserve possession rather than put much effort into hunting down additional goals.
They still generated a slew of second-half chances, with their failure to convert them the main flaw in their performance, albeit Jesus came agonizingly close to adding a third when his volley hit the post.
It didn't matter here, but they can't afford to spend any more time against Atletico Madrid or Liverpool in the coming days.
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