Manchester City moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Liverpool after defeating Sheffield United 2-0 on Saturday evening.
Kevin de Bruyne was a welcome return to the matchday squad but was only named on the bench as Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovavic came in for John Stones and Matheus Nunes.
City settled in quite easily as they broke the deadlock on 14 minutes when the Sheffield defence backed off, which allowed Rodri to unleash a powerful strike from distance.
Sheffield certainly learned their lesson from the opening goal, as Chris Wilder's men sat back for most of the first half while hoping to catch the Citizens on the break.
The Blades did see a bit more of the ball in the latter stages but were unable to trouble City goalkeeper Ederson, while City were restricted to efforts from distance at the other end.
The lead was doubled in the 60th minute as substitute Oscar Bobb delightfully played in Phil Foden, who in turn played a low cross to the far post where Julian Alvarez was on hand to slot home.
The Citizens were able to move the ball around with a lot more ease after grabbing the two-goal cushion, while Pep Guardiola was also able to bring on Ruben Dias and Rico Lewis for the final 20 minutes.
The home side pushed for more goal in the latter stages of the second half, but they were unable create any clear-cut openings as the two goals were enough to seal maximum points.
With Aston Villa dropping points against win, Guardiola's charges move up to second spot and end the year with a dominant victory.
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