Pep Guardiola's frosty moment with ballboy showed what he wanted from Man City vs Sheffield United

Manchester City rounded off a memorable 2023 on Saturday as they showed off their five trophies at the Etihad.

City hosted Sheffield United in the Premier League, in their first home game since adding the Club World Cup to their incredible haul of trophies from their most successful calendar year yet.

It was hardly a classic against the Blades, but City did what they had to do to earn back-to-back wins on their return to domestic duty. It was an afternoon to celebrate their 2023 achievements, and also the return of Kevin De Bruyne, making his first appearance in a matchday squad since August.

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We have picked out five talking points from City's final match of 2023:

After a sloppy start on Saturday, Pep Guardiola must have been relieved when Rodri stroked the ball into the corner to give City the lead and assert some dominance. A period of control followed, with Sheffield United reluctant to come out too much and offer a chance of a second. This was a position that City have experienced many times, and Guardiola often feels the key is to keep moving the ball around with short, quick passes, before spreading the play.

At one point, just before the half-hour mark, a wayward Blades clearance was heading Guardiola's way, and the manager attempted to catch it to restart play quickly. It proved too high for the boss, and he then turned to the closest ballboy to return the ball quicker than he did. Guardiola made headlines recently when his chat of a similar nature to Micah Hamilton in 2017 resurfaced, so maybe the ballboy in question will remember the encounter as fondly as Hamilton does - even