Kyle Walker marked his 100th Premier League appearance for Manchester City with a goal against his former club as Pep Guardiola’s side beat Sheffield United. The right-back, who came through the ranks at the Blades, struck midway through the first half with a superb long-range strike.
It was a deserved goal for a Manchester City side who dominated the first half, and they could have added another but for an excellent save by Aaron Ramsdale from Ferran Torres’ header.
Ramsdale did well again in the second half when he dived at full stretch to keep out a Riyad Mahrez free-kick.
But from then on the visitors struggled to find a second goal that would kill the game off and United should have capitalised when substitute John Lundstram fired just over from Sander Berge’s cross.
That was as close as the Blades came as City took their third league win of the season to move into the top half of the table.
Sheffield United remain winless and in the relegation zone with just one point from their first seven games.
After he played a starring role in the 3-0 win against Marseille in the Champions League in midweek, Kyle Walker was described by Guardiola as being in the best form of his City career.
While City’s displays have been patchy this season – and they were again far from their attacking best in this game – the consistently high-quality performances from Walker have been a big positive.
Such is Guardiola’s faith in the 30-year-old right-back that his position is the only one he has not rotated, with Walker the only player to have started every game this season.
His goal against his hometown club was a wonderfully clean strike, hit with power and precision from 25 yards and into the bottom corner.
In the second half, a burst of pace saw him get in behind the United defence and his cut-back was half-cleared to Kevin de Bruyne, who flashed a shot just wide.
While City is yet to truly sparkle in the attack, their recent defensive displays are encouraging. This was a second successive clean sheet with Walker and Joao Cancelo impressing in the full-back positions while Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias are developing into a strong central defensive partnership.
