Burnley's latest bid to slow down Manchester City's slick passing game was to no avail as the Blues won 2-0 at Turf Moor to reclaim top spot in the Premier League. But manager Pep Guardiola said afterwards that the Clarets appeared to have deliberately allowed the grass to get long - although he had no problems with them doing so.
Three years ago Burnley decided not to water the pitch ahead of an April clash with City, as the Blues were similarly fending off a strong Liverpool challenge, and that ruse almost paid of as Sergio Aguero 's goal claimed three points after a disjointed Blues performance. This time Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted they had left the grass to grow to close to the accepted limit, but again City coped, winning through first-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan.
Guardiola was asked about the conditions and said: "It is the longest I have ever played in the Premier League. But it is away and the home team can decide the decisions.
"I can say that because we won, otherwise I would not make the comment because it looks like an excuse from the losing side. The grass was so high and when that happens it is a little bit more difficult for us and our rhythm but with the way we played wasn't that important, the players adapted to the grass and made a good warmup."
ALSO READ: City cut the Kop chant short
Dyche was also asked about the pitch and said that his groundsmen had pushed it close to the standard set by the Premier League: "We have had that before. I think it was Mikel Arteta. I think the standard they set is 30milimetres, we are about 28mm, you ask the groundsman, I am not that interested."
De Bruyne and Gundogan both scored with volleys from crosses lifted off the surface by Raheem Sterling, while sub Gabriel Jesus hit the post with a volley in the second half, but Guardiola said there was no deliberate tactic of keeping the ball off the surface.
"No I don’t think so - that is the quality of the players," he said when asked if the fact the three best chances were all volleys.
Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
Catch up on all the latest Blues headlines in our Man City section
