Pep Guardiola sets new record in Premier League as Manchester City defeat Sheffield United

Manchester City continued their strong start to the 2023–2024 Premier League campaign as goals from Erling Haaland and Rodri saw them move to the table's summit.

The current English champions took the lead in the 63rd minute as Jack Grealish found Haaland unmarked with a cross, who then headed the ball past Wesley Andrew Foderingham low into the middle of the goal post.

Meanwhile, before Pep Guardiola's men took the lead, Haaland failed to convert a spot kick in the 37th minute as his shot hit the woodwork. Jayden Boggle, however, scored the equalizer for Sheffield United in the 85th minute after latching onto a precise pass into the box.

Three minutes later, Manchester City took the lead again through a Rodri volley in the 18-yard box to secure all three points for his team.

With this victory, Pep Guardiola became the quickest manager to reach 200 Premier League wins. The Catalan couldn't manage his team during the match after being forced to undergo surgery last week to treat a prolonged back problem.

It took the Spaniard just 269 games to reach the milestone. The record was previously held by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who achieved the feat in 322 games.

In his 269 Premier League fixtures as the Manchester City manager, Guardiola has been able to garner a massive 634 points.

Pep Guardiola has obviously been a force to be reckoned with since arriving in the Premier League in 2016, lifting five EPL titles with Manchester City in the last seven seasons.

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Paul Heckingbottom fumes over refereeing inconsistency after late loss to Manchester City

Sheffield United's gaffer Paul Heckingbottom opined that EPL gaffers are totally confused by the rules that regulate the game after his side was enraged by Jarred Gillett's decision.

According to the Daily Mail, the British international questioned the wisdom of VAR and opined that the penalty awarded to the Cityzens as a result of John Egan's handball might not be granted in all matches.

He said:

'I wasn’t happy with the refereeing. That our first free-kick was in the 56th minute is embarrassing. I’ve watched some of the decisions back and it’s really poor. My initial thought (on the penalty) was that it’s hit the arm, but is there any point of having VAR if the same decisions are not being given every week? I don’t know where we’re going with it all."

"I get that they want as little impact as possible from VAR… so get rid of it and just use it for offside. We need a degree of consistency, especially big decisions that affect games. Speak to any of the guys: we just want the same decision to be given. We need to know what the laws of the game are. We’ve had three games and had decisions that aren’t consistent," he added.

A disgruntled Paul Heckingbottom was, however, pleased with his team's efforts after the final whistle.