Erling Haaland was upstaged on his return from injury by fellow striker Julian Alvarez as Manchester City strolled to victory against Burnley.

Haaland made his first appearance since fracturing his foot in the defeat at Aston Villa on 6 December when he was introduced as a 71st-minute substitute at Etihad Stadium.

However, while the Norwegian's major involvement was to draw laughs from team-mates Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic on the bench when he mis-kicked what was intended to be a shot on the turn, Alvarez turned 24 in style.

The Argentine took the man-of-the-match honours by becoming just the 10th player to score two goals or more on their birthday in a Premier League game.

Both efforts came in the opening period. Matheus Nunes chipped a superb cross into the six-yard box for Alvarez to head home in the 16th minute.

And just six minutes later, Alvarez profited from a brilliantly worked training ground free-kick routine as Kevin de Bruyne shaped to curl a cross into the box but instead rolled a perfect 20-yard pass which just needed the first-time finish.

Rodri added a third in trademark fashion in the opening minute of the second-half, driving home Phil Foden's cut-back from the edge of the area.