There was a fair bit going on around Manchester City's game at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
The home fans had already decided before the match that they would protest about ticket protests, and given the ironic cheers that accompanied five seconds of possession they must have felt like the team had decided to go on strike against defending.
Ryan Babel was a handful for the City centre-backs but no amount of goals is going to save you from such Sunday league defending.
A team as prolific as City do not need the gifts that Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Joe Bryan gave them, and there were so many errors that the Blues could afford to be a little wasteful.
If Fulham's performance was straight from their original thesis of how not to survive in the Premier League, Bernardo Silva showed again why Pep Guardiola rates him as the best player in the division.
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For all the missteps from the home team, precision was still needed to punish them and Bernardo gives the impression that he could get everything from the lottery numbers to your lunch order spot on.
There is of course the wonderful, floaty touch, the 360 vision and an passionate aggression for every single ball that sees him serenaded at every ground.
As important though is, to paraphrase Fabian Delph, he just does the basics so well. City had 18 shots at goal in the first half but led 2-0 because the Portugal international threaded a shot through the legs of a defender and beyond Sergio Rico, and then played the right ball to Sergio Aguero.
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For all the gulf between the teams apparent to the eyes, it was Bernardo's brain that made the difference. With every game hyped up now in the title race and Craven Cottage not exactly settled, the 24-year-old drove his team through any pressures - real or imagined - to complete an enjoyably but utterly ordinary win.
It was better than Guardiola could have imagined, the team putting to bed any notion of a contest or dropped points by building a two-goal lead after a third of the match, then skilfully keeping Fulham at arm's length for an hour.
Ahead of a demanding April, this looked like a stroll - but only because of the exertions of a hardworking side led by the tireless Bernardo, doing exactly what was needed to tick off another challenge for the title contenders.
Whenever needed he was there, frustrating attacks and skinning defenders to provide further evidence that it would be harsh if he wasn't firmly in the picture when the individual awards are handed out.
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