Scarily, they are not supposed to be quite so good at this point. Manchester City are used to easing themselves into seasons with the odd weird result, menacingly catching up later on. Not this year.
Probably the biggest compliment to pay is that it feels like March at the moment, not September. Ruthlessly artistic — and Nottingham Forest could only watch in admiration until this threatened to become a contest with Rodri’s red card. Even then, City held firm with relative comfort.
‘Come on Forest, work hard,’ one exasperated away supporter in the posh seats shouted as they went two down.