Gabriel Jesus claims he's ‘on fire’ after continuing hot streak to inspire Manchester City in rout over Burnley
The Brazilian struck the opener in the 5-0 win in the FA Cup to take his tally to eight goals in his last five games and 15 for the season
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Your support makes all the difference.Gabriel Jesus described himself as “on fire” after helping Manchester City maintain their blistering start to 2019 by thrashing Burnley on Saturday.
The Brazilian netted his eighth goal in his last five games, and his 15th for the season, as City hammered the Clarets 5-0 in their FA Cup fourth-round tie at the Etihad Stadium.
In the wider picture, City have scored 30 goals in seven games this year, all of which have been won, and Jesus says they are hungry for more.
The 21-year-old said: “I have started this year on fire, I think, (and) not just for the goals.
“I think I help the team on the pitch, I work hard and I think I play well when I go onto the pitch.
“My focus is to do this and I am so happy that I scored goals because I am a striker and I need to score goals.
“When we score the first goal, we want to score more and more, and to play well and win the games.”
Jesus set City on their way to their latest convincing win when he cut back from the byline and fired in a low shot. Bernardo Silva doubled the lead and the outstanding Kevin De Bruyne struck a superb long-range third.
De Bruyne forced Kevin Long to turn into his own net for City’s third and Sergio Aguero completed the rout with a late penalty.
De Bruyne, starting his third game in a week as he builds match fitness after injury problems, was influential throughout.
“He is an amazing player and an amazing person,” said Jesus. “He has the quality to play every game when (getting into) this team is too hard because we have amazing players and everyone deserves to play.”
City’s dominant display came despite manager Pep Guardiola, in juggling the demands of challenging for four trophies, naming Aguero, David Silva, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling on the bench.
Burnley enjoyed no such luxury, with Sean Dyche’s seven changes clearly indicating that his priorities were Tuesday’s clash with Manchester United and Premier League survival.
Dyche said: “I am not going to overthink this one. We had to make decisions. We had a few touch and goes and they couldn’t play, because the bigger fight this season is the Premier League. It was as soon as the season started and will always be our biggest fight.
“That’s no disrespect to any other competition, it’s just a fact of the club I work for.”
PA
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