Football: City hopes suffer big blow with defeat at Burnley

Manchester City's faltering title challenge suffered another blow when they were beaten 1-0 at Burnley, giving league leaders Chelsea the chance to open an eight-point lead at the top.

Second-placed City have now won only three of their last nine Premier League matches and remain five points behind Chelsea who now have two matches in hand, the first of those against Southampton at Stamford Bridge.

George Boyd scored the only goal with a superbly-controlled half-volley from 20 metres after 61 minutes which not only dented City's title hopes but also helped Burnley's chances of avoiding relegation.

They are still in the bottom three but have moved on to 25 points, one behind 17th-placed Sunderland who lost 4-0 at home to Aston Villa earlier on Saturday.