Hart was given a warm welcome back at the club where he won two Premier League titles to help kick off a golden era for the reigning champions.

But with his allegiances now firmly with Burnley, the Clarets’ goalkeeper left his former home feeling the pain of a 5-0 defeat.

And he admitted the award of City’s second goal had made it particularly tough after Bernardo Silva’s goal nine minutes into the second half was allowed to stand to open the floodgates.

“It was a really strange moment,” said Hart. “It looked like the referee was going to give a penalty, although I don’t think it was. I think he (Leroy Sane) kicked the floor.

“The referee put his whistle to his lips but then the ball goes out of play.

“The linesman apologised for switching off, but that’s at 1-0 and that’s huge.

“I’m not saying we would have won the game, but that’s huge.

“It’s hard and everyone makes mistakes. He appealed to the human side and I hear that, and I appreciate that.

“We’re all human, but the ball went out of play. If someone has said that to me, they must be pretty clear in their head that it went out of play.

“When you’re expected to lose, nobody really cares. But we do, we really do and that will be a tough one to get to sleep tonight.”

Hart did his best to help the Clarets try and stop the City juggernaut and prevent Pep Guardiola’s men racking up a fifth successive home league win to return to the top of the table.

The England international made superb first-half saves from Sergio Aguero and David Silva as he did his best to frustrate his former team-mates.

But Aguero did find a way past Hart to claim his seventh goal in as many games against the Clarets.

And after Silva’s controversial strike had nipped a potential Burnley comeback in the bud, City rattled in further goals from Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane to equal their biggest win of the season and make it a bitter-sweet afternoon for Hart.

“The feeling of frustration is a not nice one,” added the 31-year-old, who made 348 appearances for City before joining Burnley in the summer.

“I appreciated the reception, but I came here as a Burnley player and the only thing I cared about was trying to get a result for us, so it wasn’t the perfect day.

“I love this place. We’ve got a lot of history. That will never change and I’m very proud of everything I’ve done here, but it’s the second part of my career now and I’m looking to kick on.

“I’m ready and fresh and happy to give everything to Burnley. That’s all I want to do and that’s all that excites me about my career right now.”

POS	Team	PL	PTS
15	FOR	5	5
16	BUR	5	4
17	BRE	5	4

POS	Team	PL	PTS
15	FOR	5	5
16	BUR	5	4
17	BRE	5	4

Hart Hurt By City Outcome

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