For well over 80 minutes, he had blundered down blind alleys, struggled to control simple balls, misplaced routine passes.
There had not been a huge amount going on in the closing-down department, either. Let’s face it, had Pep Guardiola lit up Erling Haaland’s number when making a triple substitution in the aftermath of Jude Bellingham ’s opener, few inside the Etihad Stadium - apart from taunting Borussia Dortmund fans - would have complained.
But Guardiola knows, like we all do, that the history of the game’s finest strikers shows one great truth and proves one great cliche… It only takes a moment for them to turn a game.
