Burnley star Anass Zaroury given red card for horror tackle as Kyle Walker forced off injured

THE FIRST red card of the Premier League season has been shown to Anass Zaroury in Burnley’s clash with Manchester City.

It capped off a miserable night for the Clarets who fell to a 3-0 defeat to the Premier League champions.

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Zaroury had his yellow upgraded by VAR to review[/caption]

Reuters

Walker was forced off after the tackle[/caption]

Zaroury was initially shown a yellow for his tackle on Kyle Walker but had the card upgraded to red after VAR intervened.

The Burnley winger desperately tried to stop Walker and lunged from behind to stop the England man attacking.

Zaroury’s legs created a scissor motion which led to Walker getting caught awkwardly.

The England man looked to have turned his ankle as part of the contact and could be looking at a spell on the sidelines as a result.

Pep wasn’t taking any chances with his full-back – who has attracted interest from Bayern Munich this summer – and withdrew Walker immediately.

Kevin De Buyne was also forced off after 22 minutes with an injury in what was another blow for Pep’s side.

Other than that it was a perfect night for Pep’s men and it looks to be business as usual again this season as Erling Haaland opened his account from close-range in just the fourth minute of the game from the edge of the six yard box.

While the first was a simple tap-in, his second showed all the caveats to Haaland’s game, as he curled a fine left-footed effort off the bar and in in the 36th minute.

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Rodri made sure the points would be heading back to Manchester with a goal in the 75th minute.

The midfielder converted from close range after a scrappy action following a free kick.

The game was full of incidents away from the pitch too – with Rico Lewis being struck by a lighter in the first half.

A pitch invader also entered the pitch in the 86th minute and charged for Julian Alvarez in a scary moment for all involved.

It was the second time this year that Vincent Kompany had lost comprehensively to his former coach as Burnley manager.

His team collapsed to a 6-0 defeat in last year’s FA Cup quarter-final when they were in the Championship.

And while 3-0 represents an improvement, it shows this Clarets side has a way to go as they look to mix it in the Premier League this season.