Manchester City ended a run of three successive Premier League home draws with a comfortable 2-0 victory over bottom club Sheffield United on Saturday.
Goals by Rodri and Julian Alvarez in each half barely did justice to City’s dominance as they enjoyed 84% possession.
Phil Foden set up Rodri to open the scoring with a precise finish in the 14th minute, and the England midfielder was instrumental in City’s second goal just past the hour mark as his pass was tapped in by Alvarez.
City, who had not won a league match at home since early November, never had to engage top gear as Sheffield United defended deeply to avoid a heavy loss.
While the points were welcome, even better news for City was the sight of Kevin de Bruyne appearing on the bench, having been out since the opening game of the season.
City have 40 points from 19 games, two points behind leaders Liverpool.
Elsewhere, an 89th-minute penalty from Douglas Luiz earned Aston Villa a hard-fought 3-2 home victory over ten-man Burnley, provisionally moving Unai Emery’s side to second place in the table.
In an end-to-end first half, Villa’s Leon Bailey fired into the roof of the net in the 28th minute from an Ollie Watkins pass to break the deadlock, but Burnley responded through Zeki Amdouni’s volley three minutes later.
A simple finish from Moussa Diaby put the hosts back ahead in the 42nd minute, before Burnley went down to ten men when Sander Berge was shown a second yellow card for a tug on Luiz’s shirt.
Villa were given an almighty scare late on as Burnley levelled through Lyle Foster’s smash and grab effort, but the home fans breathed a sigh of relief when Luiz hammered his spot-kick off the underside of the crossbar and into the net after Jhon Duran was fouled by Aaron Ramsey.
Wolves meanwhile outclassed Everton 3-0 to extend their unbeaten run at home to eight games with goals from Maximilian Kilman, Matheus Cunha and Craig Dawson.
Wolves took the lead in the 25th minute when Cunha’s cross into the box found Dawson, whose effort was blocked by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford but the ball fell for Kilman to finished.
Wolves doubled their lead early in the second half when Hwang Hee-chan crossed the ball to Cunha who scored from close range. Cunha then turned provider when he set up Dawson for the third goal on the hour mark.
Finally, Michael Olise’s double helped Crystal Palace beat Brentford 3-1 to snap the Eagles’ eight-game run without a win and ease the pressure on boss Roy Hodgson.