Bernardo Silva found the perfect picturebook finish to crown Manchester City’s snow-flecked win over West Ham.
The only drawback was him being offside and what looked like being an emphatic 3-0 victory ended as a hard-earned 2-1 triumph after Manuel Lanzini thundered home in the last action of the match.
Riyad Mahrez had been similarly clinical when the game was goalless, only for the assistant’s flag to intervene, although it was Bernardo’s delicate chip when through one-on-one against Lukasz Fabianski - a Lionel Messi-style piece of skill that the great man would have happily called his own - that was easier to bemoan.
It just looked so beautiful a memorable moment felt wasted within an offside situation. Stupid association football and its rules.
Mahrez and Bernardo’s clinical finishes also brought a question to mind: why can’t City finish like that more often?
It has been a feature of Pep Guardiola’s reign to lament the Blues’ fortunes in the opposition penalty area.
Even when the club's record goalscorer Sergio Aguero was at the peak of his powers, Guardiola would frequently rue how “we arrived many times” with little to show for those opportunities.
This isn’t a not-having-a-striker-anymore problem, it’s been around much longer. But City’s lack of a natural frontman means each time a good chance goes begging it becomes an easy talking point.
Five City men’s players were nominated for the Ballon d’Or, although none were truly in contention for Monday’s big prize in Paris, where Messi is tipped to scoop the coveted gong for the seventh time.
Aside from Ruben Dias, all the other City nominees were attacking players - Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden.
You would expect Bernardo to be in the running too next season if he maintains his phenomenal form, but Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s domination of the prize for more than a decade indicates you need to post big numbers to be in with a shout.
According to FBref, Bernardo is the only City attacker to be outperforming his expected goals (xG) figure in the Premier League by more than one this season. His four goals have come from chances with a cumulative xG value of 2.3.
De Bruyne, amid a stop-start campaign, is up on his 1.5xG with two goals, but Foden, Sterling and Mahrez have all scored fewer than they would reasonably be expected to score based upon the quality of chances they have enjoyed.
Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were each on target as City came from behind to beat Paris Saint-Germain last week. No players have scored more often for the club in the Champions League under Pep Guardiola, which speaks of their considerable pedigree.
And yet, there remains an uneasy feeling when either goes through on goal or finds space in the six-yard box.
Sterling scored an immaculate half-volley against Everton last weekend but then concocted an improbable second-half miss with the goal at his mercy. Although Jesus has enjoyed a restorative season for City, playing largely on the right-wing, his two Premier League goals scored from chances worth xG3.7 represents the biggest negative on this metric in the City squad.
There is always a chance that one or more of these players will catch fire and go on a hot streak. Ilkay Gundogan’s improbably prolific winter last year, which saw him finish the season as City’s top scorer, sets an obvious precedent, while Sterlinghit 30 in all competitions as recently as 2019/20.
Against West Ham, Bernardo might have known the flag was up but Mahrez certainly didn’t. City might lack a goal thief of the Aguero variety nowadays, but they have players of enviable technical prowess who can craft goals from seemingly nothing.
If they can replicate those weekend finishes when it matters, then a team that has collected numerous titles might just have a few more individual baubles to polish as well.
Who do you think is the best finisher in the City squad? Follow our City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
