However annoyed Manchester City may have been to drop their first Premier League points of the season, the reaction to that draw should only encourage them.
After rounding off last season with 14 straight wins, the Blues have stumbled at just the second hurdle this time, at the Etihad .
Harry Winks spoke after the game about exposing the weakness of the champions at set-pieces, while there were more signs of the profligacy in front of goal that habitually plagued the team during Pep Guardiola's first season in charge.
Given the tightness of the last title race and the ferocity with which every blow was covered in the run-in, surely any such slip between the two rivals would be amplified in the Most Competitive League In The World?
Refreshingly, not really.
There may, understandably, be a sense of it being too early in a 38-game marathon to make bold statements about final outcomes. But in a sport that needs very little for us all to make a lot out of, the reaction - or lack of - to Guardiola's side erring appears to reflect their status as big favourites for the title.
Neither Tottenham, who beat the Blues last season en route to the Champions League final, nor Liverpool, who beat Spurs to become European champions again and have started their campaign with two comfortable wins either side of a Super Cup victory over Chelsea in Istanbul, have been championed this week as a result of those dropped points at the Etihad. When even John Aldridge is still tipping a City title win, you know the Blues are being seriously backed.
That can bring its own pressure but is likely to have bolstered the squad at the Etihad as they look to show the Spurs game was a blip in their latest relentless pursuit of perfection.
Guardiola is happiest when he is out in front leading and while the table may not show that the performance against Tottenham left him euphoric as he described it as one of the best during his time at the club.
City's manager has said he has no doubts about his players, having seen them respond first to winning the league and then to falling so far behind Liverpool last season with a stirring comeback that saw them claim a second successive title win in stunning fashion.
That hunger to keep adding to their legacy in football has been seen in pre-season, and judging by reactions to the Spurs game it seems the confidence Guardiola has in his squad is shared beyond the confines of the Etihad Campus.
