The game was 18 seconds old when Erling Haaland, with a flash of his left boot, sent the ball centimetres past Altay Bayindir’s far post. The Etihad offered up a guttural roar of approval at Manchester City’s unusually vigorous up and at ‘em start.
Back to front, rough and tumble. Not very City, not very Pep Guardiola but then – as club sources said in the hours before derby victory, an emotional derby after Ricky Hatton’s passing – everything had been poured into this. Everything and more. An unusual amount with an overwhelming and rare feeling of ‘must not lose’.