Vincent Kompany’s Burnley look like Manchester City as they take Bournemouth apart

Strange as it might seem, it is difficult not to think of Manchester City when watching Burnley. There are the sky blue shirts they wore at Bournemouth, the sight of Vincent Kompany and Craig Bellamy in the dugout, but mostly it is the fluidity and composure of their game that is reminiscent, at times, of the Premier League champions.

“As long as there is no replay – that was, for me, the biggest thing,” said Kompany with a smile.

“I think winning is something you need to appreciate and value. It was a good test for us as well, just to see how well the players react to stronger opposition.”

Kompany, a two-time winner of the FA Cup, watched his Championship side make a mockery of Premier League Bournemouth to progress to the fourth round, though the abject defending from Gary O’Neil’s side played no small part in this result.

With two goals each for Manuel Benson and the brilliant Anass Zaroury, it was one which never looked in doubt.

“It announced a little bit his comeback,” said Kompany after the 22-year-old Zaroury returned from Qatar having made history as part of the Morocco squad who became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

“We started at the beginning of the season with a kid that needed to prove he can play for Burnley in the Championship and, fast forward six months, and we’ve got a superstar. The technical ability in tight spaces, it’s not easy to teach. That’s going to be his bread and butter.”

O’Neil was furious at his team’s defending, which he described as “ridiculous”.

“The three huge errors for the goals make it impossible to win. That is the story of the game, really.

“Five losses on the trot – three of them away to Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United. Two of them – Crystal Palace and Burnley – we could definitely do something about.”

The Lancashire side needed just six minutes to make their mark after Marcos Senesi carelessly gifted possession to Johann Gudmundsson who quickly composed himself then perfectly weighted a pass to Benson, who smashed confidently into the roof of the net.

Both teams were lacking some Kompany-esque composure in defence and soon Burnley returned the favour with Josh Cullen making a mess of a simple pass across goal which allowed Ryan Christie to finish into an empty net.

It was Burnley who were playing the more attractive football and dominating possession early on. Zaroury came close to scoring as he cut in off the left flank and curled a low shot just beyond the far post.

Kompany lost Manchester City loan defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis to an injury in the 27th minute but his team is so cohesive that it caused little disruption to the Clarets’ enterprising approach.

They deservedly restored their lead six minutes before half-time, helped by some more woeful defending by O’Neil’s side.

This time it was Lewis Cook who was robbed of possession by Zaroury on the edge of the area. Ashley Barnes picked up the ball, threaded a pass to Josh Brownhill who unselfishly squared it across goal for Zaroury to convert. The goal stood after a Var check for offside.

Anyone who did not know otherwise would certainly have assumed that Burnley were the Premier League side, such was their quality, composure and dominance.

The gulf in quality was underlined still further before half-time as Zaroury scored a brilliant second goal.

Once again, he exchanged passes with Brownhill before outrageously nutmegging both Jack Stephens and Philip Billing on his way to finishing with aplomb into the far corner.

“Premier League, you’re having a laugh,” joked the away support. The home contingent booed at the half-time whistle.

O’Neil responded with a triple substitution during the break with Kieffer Moore brought on to partner Dominic Solanke in attack.

Moore soon made his presence felt as he teed up Christie who in turn found Solanke and, despite Bailey Peacock-Farrell blocking the initial effort, the Bournemouth striker headed in the rebound.

Again Burnley were not perturbed and the outstanding Zaroury went straight up the other end, sat Jack Stacey on the floor and was then denied by an excellent save from Mark Travers at the near post.

Bournemouth will have little chance of staying in the Premier League unless O’Neil can drastically improve his side’s defending.

Lloyd Kelly, one of those who came on at half-time, inexplicably gave the ball away in dangerous territory and Barnes picked it up before playing a measured pass for Benson, who fired in his second and Burnley’s fourth.

There was no little energy from Bournemouth, even if quality was in short supply. Christie saw his header cleared off the line before Kelly nodded the rebound against the post as the Cherries looked for a way back.

They could not find it and O’Neil’s side slumped to their fifth successive defeat. The pressure is on the fledgling manager with new owner Bill Foley, present in the stands, impatient for improvement.