CITY 4 BURNLEY 2
League Division 1
25th November 1967
attendance 36,925
scorers
City Summerbee(1), Coleman(6 pen & 50), Young(44)
Burnley Casper(59), Morgan(90)
Ref J Finney
City Mulhearn, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Heslop, Oakes, Lee, Bell, Summerbee, Young, Coleman – sub Bowles(unused)
Burnley Thomson, Angus, Latcham, O’Neill, Waldron, Merrington, Morgan, France, Lochhead, Bellamy, Casper, – sub Blant(57)
It was certainly a game of two halves at Maine Road, with The Citizen’s hanging on in the end for a 4-2 victory.
Eric Todd wrote in The Guardian ‘Old Men dreamed dreams and young men saw visions at Maine Road where for nearly an hour Manchester City’s play justified every superlative. They scored four goals, might have had six, and then with a charity unbecoming potential champions they lost command… In the 57th minute France departed and Blant came on as substitute, and Merrington and Waldron changed places. From then on, there was only one tram in it, Burnley!’
It was a breathtaking start from The Blues, just 20 seconds in Summerbee headed in after a chipped cross from Bell, then in the sixth minute City were 2-0 up. Francis Lee dribbled into the area beating two defenders before being chopped down by Waldron. Tony Coleman confidently converted the spot kick.
City drove forward for the rest of the half with Summerbee and Young outstanding. Peter Gardner writing in The Manchester Evening News exclaimed ‘…Sparked by the power and drive of the superb Summerbee… the entire side rose magnificently to the occasion. And none more so than Neil Young, whose grace, skill and shooting power was never better revealed as he turned in his finest performance of the season’.
And it was Young who scored City’s third goal just before the interval, with a great strike from the edge of the area after some great work by Summerbee.
Just six minutes into the second half the game looked all over as a contest, when Burnley’s Merrington was harshly judged to have handled Colin Bell’s fierce shot when it looked more like he was protecting his face from injury. City’s newest signing Francis Lee thought he would get his name on the scoresheet as and took over the penalty taking duties from Coleman, however his spot kick was blasted at keeper Thomson, who pushed the ball out and fittingly it was Tony Coleman who converted the rebound for his second goal of the game.
Disappointingly for the home fans that was the end of City’s rout on the Burnley defence and just before the hour Casper volleyed in for The Clarets, and in the last minute of the game Burnley scored a second, when Coleman totally misjudged his back pass to Mulhearn and sub Blant pounced and shot past the City keeper.