<p>Manchester City and Chelsea moved towards touching distance of the Premier League summit on Saturday as Sheffield United and Burnley remained winless at the other end of the table.</p>.<p>City have yet to hit the free-scoring form of Pep Guardiola's side at their best, as for the third consecutive league game they were held to a solitary goal.</p>.<p>But Kyle Walker's long-range strike against his former club was good enough to earn a 1-0 win at goal-shy Sheffield United.</p>.<p>A fourth win in five games in all competition edges City up to eighth but within two points of joint-leaders Everton, Liverpool and Wolves in a concertinaed table.</p>.<p>And there was another boost for City after the game as Pep Guardiola ruled out a return to Barcelona despite interest from presidential candidates at the Catalan giants to bring the club's most successful ever coach back to the Camp Nou.</p>.<p>"I said many times, my period as a manager in Barcelona is over," said Guardiola, whose contract at the Etihad expires at the end of the season.</p>.<p>"I am incredibly happy here, still I have the desire to do well and this is the most important thing."</p>.<p>On the field, there were plenty of positives for City as the newly-formed centre-back pairing of Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias played their part in a second consecutive clean sheet.</p>.<p>However, without injured strikers Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, City struggled to turn their dominance into goals.</p>.<p>"We played really well," added Guardiola. "We struggled to score goals for the chances we created, 16 shots, eight on target, is a lot against this team."</p>.<p>Instead, Walker was the unlikely match-winner with his first goal for a year in his 100th Premier League appearance for City.</p>.<p>Chelsea are also finding their form after a slow start to the season as Frank Lampard's men ran out 3-0 winners at Burnley to stretch their unbeaten run to nine games.</p>.<p>Hakim Ziyech was handed his first Premier League start after scoring in a 4-0 Champions League win away to Krasnodar in midweek and the Moroccan's shot wrong-footed Nick Pope to open the floodgates for the visitors on 26 minutes.</p>.<p>Kurt Zouma's bullet header then doubled Chelsea's advantage from Mason Mount's corner just after the hour mark.</p>.<p>Timo Werner was due to be rested until an injury in the warm-up to Christian Pulisic forced the German international into Lampard's line-up.</p>.<p>And Werner rounded off an excellent second-half performance from the Blues with a fine finish from Ziyech's pass.</p>.<p>After much criticism of his side's defending, Lampard will be equally delighted at a fourth straight clean sheet as Chelsea moved into the top four, just one point off the top.</p>.<p>However, Liverpool have the chance to move three points clear when the champions host West Ham at Anfield later on Saturday.</p>
<p>Manchester City and Chelsea moved towards touching distance of the Premier League summit on Saturday as Sheffield United and Burnley remained winless at the other end of the table.</p>.<p>City have yet to hit the free-scoring form of Pep Guardiola's side at their best, as for the third consecutive league game they were held to a solitary goal.</p>.<p>But Kyle Walker's long-range strike against his former club was good enough to earn a 1-0 win at goal-shy Sheffield United.</p>.<p>A fourth win in five games in all competition edges City up to eighth but within two points of joint-leaders Everton, Liverpool and Wolves in a concertinaed table.</p>.<p>And there was another boost for City after the game as Pep Guardiola ruled out a return to Barcelona despite interest from presidential candidates at the Catalan giants to bring the club's most successful ever coach back to the Camp Nou.</p>.<p>"I said many times, my period as a manager in Barcelona is over," said Guardiola, whose contract at the Etihad expires at the end of the season.</p>.<p>"I am incredibly happy here, still I have the desire to do well and this is the most important thing."</p>.<p>On the field, there were plenty of positives for City as the newly-formed centre-back pairing of Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias played their part in a second consecutive clean sheet.</p>.<p>However, without injured strikers Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, City struggled to turn their dominance into goals.</p>.<p>"We played really well," added Guardiola. "We struggled to score goals for the chances we created, 16 shots, eight on target, is a lot against this team."</p>.<p>Instead, Walker was the unlikely match-winner with his first goal for a year in his 100th Premier League appearance for City.</p>.<p>Chelsea are also finding their form after a slow start to the season as Frank Lampard's men ran out 3-0 winners at Burnley to stretch their unbeaten run to nine games.</p>.<p>Hakim Ziyech was handed his first Premier League start after scoring in a 4-0 Champions League win away to Krasnodar in midweek and the Moroccan's shot wrong-footed Nick Pope to open the floodgates for the visitors on 26 minutes.</p>.<p>Kurt Zouma's bullet header then doubled Chelsea's advantage from Mason Mount's corner just after the hour mark.</p>.<p>Timo Werner was due to be rested until an injury in the warm-up to Christian Pulisic forced the German international into Lampard's line-up.</p>.<p>And Werner rounded off an excellent second-half performance from the Blues with a fine finish from Ziyech's pass.</p>.<p>After much criticism of his side's defending, Lampard will be equally delighted at a fourth straight clean sheet as Chelsea moved into the top four, just one point off the top.</p>.<p>However, Liverpool have the chance to move three points clear when the champions host West Ham at Anfield later on Saturday.</p>