There was a moment in the first half against Southampton where nobody in the ground could believe what had happened.
Erling Haaland had raced onto a Phil Foden ball with all the energy of a lion about to devour a jackal and, where many would have taken a touch to settle themselves or bring it onto their stronger foot, he had lashed the ball first time with his weaker right straight in for another goal. Except as he wheeled away in celebration, the ball instead rebounded off the inside of the post and careered back past the other post to meet the striker at the touchline.
City fans and Haaland were reminded for what felt like the first time in forever what it feels like to have a striker go through and not score. It has been obvious that the Norwegian cannot keep up his preposterous scoring record, and yet this miss still took everyone at the Etihad by surprise.
