It would be easy to think that Manchester City's powers are on the wane after they notched their ninth league defeat of the season at Southampton on Sunday.
True, they will be nowhere near the outrageously-high points totals of the previous two seasons, nor will they be picking up any medals at the conclusion of the campaign. After disappointment on the south coast, however, Newcastle gave everyone a reminder of just how horribly good Pep Guardiola's side can be.
The two games were similar in the sense that City dominated, only this time two goals in the opening 20 minutes broke Newcastle's spirits.
By the drinks break, Federico Fernandez and Martin Dubravka had a testy exchange as questions were asked of how the defence had been breached so effectively.
More players held inquests as the opposition side trooped off at half-time and they were all back out on the pitch before City emerged from the tunnel for the second half, with Steve Bruce arms folded looking no less furious for having had 15 minutes without seeing his side chasing shadows.
Not that it did them any good. City could have racked up double figures if they had taken all of their chances, so good were they.
And this is not a particularly bad Newcastle side either. They were hampered by injuries coming into this game and far from full strength, but sit clear of the relegation battle in the league and have taken more points from games with Tottenham and United this season than Guardiola has.
This is what City at their best can reduce good teams to, though. They may not have had the consistency to win the league this season but there is no team in the league better at absolutely crushing teams with the relentless quality and dominance of their play.
Whenever they sensed blood, the home team swarmed forward in numbers with fast, intricate play from the forwards making it impossible for them to be contained. David Silva, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, and Gabriel Jesus were simply too good.
It is incredibly sapping of body and mind to keep up with the Blues in this mood, and even when you think you have kept up with them you can end up booting the ball into your own net, as Matt Ritchie and Fernandez combined to do in the second half.
Guardiola never stopped either, refusing to let standards drop at any point as he remained animated on the touchline throughout, living every kick and critiquing passes up to the last whistle.
This felt even more of an torturing for Newcastle than the FA Cup had been, and a reminder of how effectively City remain at inflicting all kinds of pain on opposition sides.
