In typical fashion Pep Guardiola dropped a team selection surprise before Manchester City's 3-0 win against Everton on Sunday, but unlike some of his past unexpected tweaks, this one paid off.
Making a first Premier League start for his boyhood club, 19-year-old Cole Palmer played a central role in a dominant City win.
The academy graduate from Wythenshawe lined up as a false nine - a slight departure from his usual role as an attacking midfielder or winger - but looked right at home among a brilliant City attack.
Palmer played 87 minutes before he was replaced by fellow youngster James McAtee and, despite not getting on the scoresheet, provided glimpses of the kind of football City fans can expect of him over the coming years.
Certainly, if these three moments are anything to go by, then Palmer could negate the need for City to make too many attacking signings over the next few transfer windows.
Creative spark
Palmer has seldom played as a false nine during his youth career, but as Guardiola alluded to a few weeks ago, he is capable of playing pretty much anywhere across the forward line.
That is largely down to his intelligence, technical ability and eye for goal. But against Everton, he showed he also has the awareness of when to drop and when to run that is essential when playing the false nine role effectively.
Midway through the first half, Palmer turned his back to goal and dropped away from the back four in order to receive a pass from Ilkay Gundogan. In doing so, he dragged Michael Keane slightly out of position, creating a gap for Bernardo Silva, playing as a free-eight, to run into.
Making the right movements and showing for a pass is all well and good, but it means nothing if you can't execute the perfect through ball to go with it.
Palmer made no mistake in that department either, slipping Bernardo Silva in on goal only for Jordan Pickford to save. Seconds later Gundogan hit the bar with a header after the ball had been recycled, an opportunity that would not have come around without Palmer's perfectly weighted delivery.
Striker's instinct
Two minutes later, Palmer showed that he has the instinctive 'smell for goal' that Guardiola craves in a front man.
Again dropping deep with his back to goal, the teenager took one touch to set himself up, turned and fired a low shot off towards the bottom corner from the edge of the 18-yard box.
It wasn't the fiercest of efforts, but the quickfire way in which Palmer got his shot away, like he knew what he was going to do before he'd even received the ball, could have quite easily caught Everton goalkeeper Pickford unawares.
As it happens, the keeper got down well to palm the ball away, but it was a good example of Palmer's striking instincts, which resulted in the England keeper having to deny Raheem Sterling from the loose ball.
Channel classic
Ten minutes before he made way for McAtee, Palmer showed that his quick-thinking and technical abilities don't desert him in moments of pressure.
Already 2-0 up, City broke forward looking for a third. Palmer collected the ball just inside the Everton half, stepped away from a pressing opponent and slipped Kyle Walker in behind the defence with another perfectly weighted ball down the right channel.
The move ended with Raheem Sterling fluffing a Walker cross inside the box, but Palmer played his part to perfection.
While his performance didn't write headlines like his goal-scoring outings of recent months, Palmer looked a part of the City furniture on his first league start.
If he keeps this form up, it will be the first of many.
Do you think Cole Palmer has what it takes to become a Man City regular? Follow City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to join the conversation and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
