Bernardo Silva, the outstanding Manchester City player last season, has had a more pedestrian start to this campaign.
Pep Guardiola may have declared that he was back to his best level by the end of their pre-season tour but his instant impact off the bench against Brighton to make it 4-0 was the first of the team's 14 goals this season that he has been involved in either scoring or assisting.
Riyad Mahrez started in his place at West Ham on the opening weekend, with the manager stating afterwards that the Portugal international would have to improve because now he knew how good his teammate was. Bernardo duly started against Tottenham and Bournemouth but could not do enough to keep his place against Brighton, with Mahrez capping off another excellent performance with a lovely flick to help set up the second goal.
There was further encouragement on international duty as Portugal played their first game since triumphing in the UEFA Nations League back in June.
Receiving the ball next to the centre circle, he turned and drove forward with the ball before finding the perfect through ball for Cristiano Ronaldo to run onto and poke home for the third goal in a 4-2 win. The 26-year-old then got on the scoresheet himself, calmly sidefooting home in the box to make the game safe.
If many of his teammates at the Etihad have set a blistering early pace with their attacking contributions, Bernardo's goal against Graham Potter's men at least got him into the race and he looks to be more up to speed after some minutes with Portugal, who take on Lithuania on Tuesday.
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