When you’ve scaled the heights, even good can seem mediocre. So it is for Manchester City. Right now they are far from the team that accumulated 100 points in a season whilst playing some of the most exquisite football witness in the Premier League.
That said, they are also distinctly improved from the team that lost 5-2 to Leicester last month and surely better than the team that lost a staggering nine games last season, even when they have to play, as they do now, without a recognised centre-forward.
For this was another step forward, what might be regarded a key building block for a title challenge.