Pep Guardiola's side claimed a 12th successive win in all competitions to continue a renaissance that has restored it to the summit of England's top flight and marked it out as clear favourite to clinch the title.

Gabriel Jesus's ninth-minute strike decided the game but, while City failed to add to its advantage as a result of a blunt performance in the final third, it never looked like conceding an equaliser.

Sheffield United arrived at Etihad Stadium with a renewed sense of hope after a shock midweek victory away to Manchester United.

But City quickly set about extinguishing any optimism, Ferran Torres capitalising on a defensive mix-up before showing great feet to beat his man on the byline and teeing up Jesus for a tap-in.

Although the nature of the opener will have disappointed Blades boss Chris Wilder, he will have been pleased with his players' response to such an early setback.

They restricted the hosts to just one more shot on target before the break thanks to more of the sort of solidity that had earned them three points across Manchester on Thursday (AEDT).

Unsurprisingly, City looked to up the tempo after the restart, and went close through a Ruben Dias header from Ilkay Gundogan's cross within two minutes.

But it continued to struggle to carve out clear opportunities, its next big chance again coming from a corner as Aymeric Laporte's header forced Aaron Ramsdale into a save.

Sheffield United enjoyed its best spell of the match in the final five minutes, with a John Fleck long-distance effort whistling just past the post in that period.

However, it had left it too late to put sustained pressure on the hosts, who saw out the remaining minutes to claim yet another victory in a remarkable run of form.