CITY 2 BURNLEY 0
League Division 1
22nd December 1973
attendance 28,114
scorers Bell(38), Doyle(71)
Ref T Reynolds
City MacRae, Pardoe, Donachie, Doyle, Booth, Towers, Summerbee, Bell, Marsh, Lee, Leman – sub Carrodus(unused)
Burnley Stevenson, Noble, Newton, Dobson, Waldron, Ingham, Nulty, Hankin, Fletcher, Collins, James – sub Rodaway
A GOAL FROM COLIN BELL
FROM THE PRESS BOX
LESLIE DUXBURY WRITING IN THE OBSERVER 23RD DECEMBER 1973
A nice contrast in styles produced a game for both the connoisseur and the man with a seasonably fat cigar in one hand and a half empty bottle of rum in the other.
… Manchester City, at least in this match, after surviving an early Burnley blitzkrieg which, in all truth, had the likes of Booth and Pardoe rigid with fear and awe, they slowly recovered, both composure and confidence to give Burnley a minor trouncing.
Their attack had none of the stabbing bite of their opponents. They were conceived on a grander scale, sometimes spanning the field both lengthwise and laterally.
Their star, at least so far as the eye was concerned, was Marsh, arrogant, flamboyant and even intellectual as when his quick reverse pass to Leman on the edge of the box was much too subtle for the youngster to appreciate never mind reach.
Perhaps, though his colleagues were not quite as admiring of Marsh’s performance as the spectators. There were times when Bell and Lee waited vainly for the cross and their anger was almost tangible. Still Marsh gave the paying customer something else to savour over Christmas besides the turkey and pud, and that was worth upsetting a couple of his mates for.
It was Marsh who had the first opportunity to open the score. As he burst into the box on the right he was first tripped and then his blocked centre invited a mighty appeal for hands.
Signs that Burnley were also in a mood to go forward included a long cross from Noble, which was skipping inside the near post when Macrae got behind it. Then Booth kicked the ball off the line after Hankin had chased it to the byline and screwed it viciously back as he fell over, all legs and sweat.
… Marsh inevitably broke the deadlock in the 38th minute. He should never have by-passed at least three Burnley defenders deep on the left. But he did and his high centre was headed firmly between Newton and the far post by Bell. City’s second goal, which was the chocolate on the biscuit, was headed by Doyle. He ran some 20 yards to meet Summerbee’s centre and dispatch it into the roof of the net.
My first City game