The No.9 may have been 40 yards away from the penalty box but you couldn't fault the quality build-up play that created a Manchester City goal.
So often the case during Gabriel Jesus's five years at the Etihad, here the Arsenal striker could only watch and admire as goal-machine Erling Haaland turned assist king for assist king Kevin De Bruyne to fire City into the lead. Haaland just gets better and better and so do City.
Pep Guardiola's side are not just alive in their Treble hunt, they have rarely looked more alive. Every decision won from goals to throw-ins were roared on by a rampant home side to whip up the partisan crowd and make Arsenal even meeker, with the only surprise at the end of the night that the scoresheet only separated the teams by three goals; it felt like they were leagues apart at times.
Also read: Man City player ratings vs Arsenal as Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones brilliant
"Every game, every ball, every action - every time they are there," he said of Arsenal shortly before that match during his infamous 'happy flowers' rant. "We miss it, we don't have it."
The City boss had told Arsenal they would have to fight them to take their title off them when they headed down to the Emirates in February as they looked to defend their crown against the form team. City won 3-1 but came away feeling like they had got away with one in a contest where the Gunners had put them under the cosh for sustained spells in the match.
Even after briefly topping the league, normal service was resumed by the end of the week when City fluffed their lines at Nottingham Forest. They were eight points behind at the beginning of April and five going into this game, yet here it was utterly one-sided; having not expected to be in this position during the low point of their season, Guardiola may have been surprised at just how easy it was for them.
The surprise when the teams dropped was that it would not be Aymeric Laporte deputising for the injured Nathan Ake, who had seemed the most obvious replacement to go up against one of the most dangerous players in the league in Bukayo Saka. Instead, surprise signing and package of the season Manu Akanji was asked to play on the left of defence for the first time this season with Kyle Walker coming in at right-back.
To a man City made Arsenal look like boys from the first whistle. Buoyed by a terrific crowd, the Blues were smarting in the opening minutes when Michael Oliver somehow deemed what looked to be an obvious penalty on De Bruyne to be a foul against the Belgian.
Such things would once have been a major talking point in a setback, but this relentless City machine is no longer prepared to adhere to such scripts. Instead, minutes later a long ball up from John Stones was plucked out of the air by Haaland exquisitely before he fed De Bruyne to curl an outstanding effort past Aaron Ramsdale and open the scoring.
Guardiola may be right that perfection is impossible over 90 minutes but it was certainly in evidence for that move and City did a good job of giving their manager the happiest night on the touchline he has had for a while. Not that you would know it watching the Catalan's fury at every tiny thing that didn't go his way, but that simply stood as another way in which City simply had more energy than life than their limp opponents.
City should have been out of sight before half-time, but Ramsdale produced a number of top saves to deny Haaland and keep his side in the game. Just as the break neared, Stones headed in from a De Bruyne free-kick and while it was ruled out for offside that decision was overturned by VAR.
Haaland missed another glorious opportunity to extend City's lead ten minutes into the second half when Ramsdale prevented him after a one-on-one, but it mattered little: he simply fed De Bruyne seconds later to slot home a third. If it hadn't been game over already, that settled it.
That should also end the talk that has kept popping up this season about City letting Zinchenko and Jesus go to Arsenal for a combined sum of £75m. As recently as a few weeks ago, Guardiola was asked about them 'haunting' him but Wednesday night showed what an upgrade the Blues have got up front this season.
If the two teams continue their current trajectories, it may also be title race over. Arsenal failed to win for the fourth game in a row - meaning they will have gone over a month without a win by the time they next kick off - whereas City picked up their ninth win in 10 league games to move within two points of top spot with two games to go.
The results point in one direction, and the body language of the rivals on the night certainly felt telling. Arsenal gamely tried until the final whistle and bagged a late consolation through Rob Holding but there was an air of resignation and defeat once it became clear they simply couldn't live with the reigning champions.
Having started April eight points off the top, City can start May a point clear at the summit if they win at Fulham this weekend. With the level they are showing, few would bet against it.
Indeed, few would bet against them doing anything they want to this season, including the Treble that Guardiola won't countenance talk of yet. When Haaland is looking like Jesus with his build-up play, it is little wonder.
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