This all felt a bit new and fresh. Manchester City didn’t labour. The dads and lads XI played at pace.
Even with its mix of Athletic Bilbao and Almeira shirts, the half-and-half scarves, travel parties from Australia and America, the Etihad Stadium had an energy.
Beating Crystal Palace in this fashion meant something and Pep Guardiola, who has come in for mounting criticism in recent weeks, will possess some sense of vindication. He’d seen something in recent weeks that none of us had.
He sat in his chair just over the road from here on Friday afternoon and insisted that some ‘spirit’ within his group had returned.