After a shaky start to the season, Liverpool's 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth was meant to be a turning point.
The moment when the Reds finally got their season going, put their troubles behind them and used that showing as the benchmark for future performances.
Jurgen Klopp's side looked fearsome again, like the Liverpool of old, the devastatingly ruthless Red Arrows zooming forwards, cutting opposition defences to shreds and their seemingly tireless press suffocating rivals.
But as more time passes, that record-equalling result looks less like the rule and more like the exception, an anomaly in a sea of mediocrity.