Manchester City have made Football League history by opening a calendar year with nine successive victories.
The Blues preserved their faultless record in 2021 by edging out Sheffield United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Gabriel Jesus netted the only goal of the game in that contest, with Pep Guardiola’s resurgent side cementing their standing at the top of the Premier League table.
They have also booked their place in another Carabao Cup final, as they look to land that prize for a fourth year in a row, progressed to the fifth-round of the FA Cup and are sweeping aside all before them.
Since the turn of the year, City have proved too strong for Chelsea, Manchester United, Birmingham, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Cheltenham, West Brom and Sheffield United.
No side has ever been so dominant in January, with an ambitious outfit adding another notable entry to the history books.
City’s latest success has also seen them hit a new club high.
The Blues’ winning run actually stretches back into 2020, with 12 straight victories secured stretching back to the middle of December – when they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Brom on home soil.
Nobody has got close to them since then, allowing positive progress to be made in more trophy quests.
A stunning 12-game sequence represents the longest winning run City have ever been on.
Only Arsenal, who achieved the same feat between August and October 2007, can claim to have matched the Blues’ efforts in the Premier League era.
Guardiola is rightly proud of his side, but is aware that there are still plenty of sizeable challenges to come before major silverware is handed out.
He told BBC Sport after blunting the Blades: “In December and January to show this consistency is amazing. We will drop points, it’s about how we overcome it.
“In this league every game is so difficult. Hopefully we react good in the bad moments which for sure are coming.”
City will be looking to make it 13 games without a blip of any kind when they take in a short trip to Lancashire neighbours Burnley on Wednesday.