The Premier League title race is now down to who blinks first and Manchester City showed the nerve and quality of champions who have been over this course before to overwhelm Leeds United.
Margins are so fine that even one draw could wreck the title pursuit for City, and Liverpool, who are chasing down the reigning champions relentlessly in their own bid to be the first English team to win the quadruple.
Every victory must be answered in kind and the current status was condensed perfectly into events taking place 100 miles apart, as Liverpool met Newcastle at St.