Fifty-nine minutes went by, this particular clock beginning to tick a moment before Omar Marmoush lobbed Manchester City on their merry way.
Fifty-nine minutes in which City dealt with Newcastle, by scoring their first three of four and then managing the game in a way that had felt consigned to history.
Fifty-nine minutes vanished without Nico Gonzalez once losing possession on a Premier League debut that ended with Pep Guardiola describing him as a mini-Rodri.
Not a single stray pass in almost an hour – from minute 18, the middle hour of an afternoon City could ill-afford to muck up - at exactly one every 60 seconds.