DEAN Marney’s stunning volley wasn’t enough to prevent Burnley from slipping to a narrow defeat against Manchester City at Turf Moor.

The midfielder had given the Clarets the lead but Sergio Aguero scored either side of half-time for Pep Guardiola’s side.

With Tom Heaton ruled out with a calf injury, ending a run of 142 consecutive league starts since joining the club, 37-year-old Paul Robinson made his competitive debut for the Clarets.

It was a first senior start in 802 days for Robinson, since he conceded three for Blackburn Rovers against Derby in September 2014.

It was also the former England goalkeeper’s first Premier League appearance since May 2012.

He was called into action for the first time inside eight minutes, getting down low to his left to turn Aguero’s 20-yard piledriver behind.

That came just seconds after Burnley had a strong penalty appeal waved away when Nicolas Otamendi barged Jeff Hendrick in the back after the Republic of Ireland midfielder had controlled George Boyd’s free-kick on his chest.

The Clarets had started the game as brightly as the winter sunshine that bathed Turf Moor and moments after Johann Berg Gudmundsson had tested Claudio Bravo for the first time they were ahead.

It came from the most unlikely of sources as well. If Robinson’s wait for a start had seemed long, it was nothing compared to Marney’s 991 day wait between goals, having not found the net since a 3-3 draw at Birmingham in the Clarets' first promotion season under Sean Dyche.

The goal came from a long Robinson free-kick which was headed away from danger by Otamendi, or so he had thought. Instead Marney lashed a volley from 30 yards back into the corner of the net.

City found a leveller shortly before the break. They went close seconds before but Matt Lowton made an excellent block as Nolito tried to pull the trigger, but from the resulting corner the ball found its way to Aguero at the back post and he bundled home.

The Argentinean must have thought he’d turned the game on its head minutes later only to see Robinson produce a flying one-handed save to tip his left-footed curler from outside the box wide of the post.

It was turning out to be a dispiriting end to the half for the Clarets, who saw goalscorer Marney and then Gudmundsson limp off injured within minutes of each other, as Scott Arfield and James Tarkowski entered the action before the break.

They almost ended the half back in the lead though, but Sam Vokes could only glance a header from Lowton’s low cross into the grateful hands of Bravo.

City had started the second half with plenty of possession but when they forged ahead it came about in calamitous circumstances.

A goalmouth scramble looked to be over when Ben Mee and Stephen Ward had the chance to clear, but tripped over each other, allowing Fernandinho to somehow get a low cross in which Aguero steered home from close range.

Burnley began to find a response as the clock ticked down, with City looking vulnerable under the high ball, and Michael Keane glanced a header straight at Bravo before seeing another cleared off the line by Aleksander Kolarov.

The Clarets twice came close in stoppage time. First Keane’s header when Bravo looked uncertain under Hendrick’s free-kick hit Mee and allowed the ‘keeper to pounce on the ball, before he showed safer hands to hold substitute Ashley Barnes’ hooked overhead from close range.

Burnley: Paul Robinson, Matt Lowton, Michael Keane, Ben Mee, Stephen Ward, Johann Berg Gudmundsson (James Tarkowski 43), Dean Marney (Scott Arfield 40), Steven Defour (Ashley Barnes 80), George Boyd, Jeff Hendrick, Sam Vokes

Subs not used: Nick Pope, Jon Flanagan, Michael Kightly, Andre Gray

Man City: Claudio Bravo, Bacary Sagna, Nicolas Otamendi, Alexsander Kolarov, Gael Clichy, Fernandinho, Fernando, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling (Leroy Sane 57), Nolito (Kevin De Bruyne 78), Sergio Aguero (Jesus Navas 89)

Subs not used: Willy Caballero, Pablo Zabaleta, David Silva, Kelechi Iheanacho