Pep Guardiola’s relentless winning machine rolls on, Manchester City clinching a 12th successive victory in a game they dominated.
As the game approached its conclusion, Oleksandr Zinchenko warmed Aaron Ramsdale’s fingers with a 20-yard effort and Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gündogan and Ferran Torres continued to press tirelessly, before John Fleck unloaded a long-range effort that went close to grabbing a share of the points.
In the end, though, Gabriel Jesus’s first-half strike proved the winner and thus Guardiola and team will travel to Burnley on Wednesday top of the table. As can be the City manager’s way there some selections raised eyebrows, with John Stones and Raheem Sterling stood down – though Torres and Aymeric Laporte were hardly the weakest of replacements. Guardiola had described previous encounters with Sheffield United as “uncomfortable” so there was some surprise that this one did not follow suit, particularly with their visitors boosted by Wednesday’s win at Manchester United.
It would be a contest of City’s attack against United’s rearguard. As at Old Trafford the Blades hoped to hit their hosts on the break. Yet after only nine minutes they were behind as Torres wriggled free of Jayden Bogle on the right and fed Jesus. A dummy was followed by a finish and City were in front, as the Brazilian broke his near three-month drought in the league.
United responded with a counter that ended in Gündogan scrambling a George Baldock pass out for a corner. It amounted to nothing but it was a move at pace that turned City and gave Chris Wilder’s men hope. Notable from Guardiola’s team was how Kyle Walker would act as an extra man in midfield when the ball was down City’s left, as he did when receiving possession and spraying wide to Torres. This is part of how City tire opponents: by posing a constant shape-shifting puzzle that can be impossible to solve.
There is also stunning vision, such as when Silva’s fiercely struck ball from the right found Jesus, whose header back towards danger was hooked away by Chris Basham. The visitors will have rued the lax defending that allowed Jesus’s opener because thereafter they stymied City. There were also flashes of quality moving forward, the probing of Oliver Norwood and Fleck keeping those in sky-blue shirts on their toes. Rúben Dias had to prove his concentration when Oliver Burke raced on to a rebound, the centre-back scooping the ball away to stop Ederson being called into action.
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The second half opened with Fleck ceding the ball to Silva, who skated at United’s defence to claim a corner. Next Zinchenko’s cross from the left to the far post might have led to City’s second if Torres produced a better header, And when Torres hit a ball in, Ramsdale’s interception thwarted a lurking Jesus. Bogle’s blast over from an enticing position was United’s sole chance as the contest entered its latter stages.
If VAR is for anything it is for the type of incident that, moments later, involved Bogle appearing to push Torres down in front of Ramsdale. David Coote might have been directed to study the pitch-side monitor for a possible penalty. But he was not and awarded a goal-kick.
It did not affect the result and Jesus nearly claimed a second in added time. So City remain the side to beat, while United are rooted to the bottom, 10 points from the last safe spot.