Pep Guardiola labelling Manchester City's current situation as an emergency has all the hallmarks of a hoax call.
Now it does, anyway. It did not an hour before kick-off, with six first-team stars left back in the North West for different reasons and only two senior outfielders on their bench.
Guardiola was not kidding when suggesting that the lengthy absentee list constituted something of a crisis earlier in the week – even for such a ludicrously talented squad. He was perfectly justified in fearing that an upwardly mobile Aston Villa, with the impetus of Steven Gerrard, could represent trouble. They very nearly did.
Manchester City kept pace with the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa
Ruben Dias gave the Premier League champions the lead after he swung his left foot at a ball back from Raheem Sterling
Gabriel Jesus (left) and Bernardo Silva (right) then combined for City's second and a sumptuous volley from the Portuguese
Ollie Watkins halved the deficit for Steven Gerrard's men at the start of the second half with a clever near-post finish
But this team constantly find a way of getting it done. At times towards the end, they needed to dig deep and relied on their goalkeeper. Passes went awry, Villa had an ascendency, yet City left with another victory to go with the rest.
And they left with a second goal worthy of a siren, Bernardo Silva's quite sumptuous finish, the sort of which that ought to be bottled and sent to the Football Museum as proof of Guardiola's genius tenure in England for future generations.
The measure of dominance was such that Villa just could not vacate their own penalty area for the opening 11 minutes. That is how long it took for them to register a touch inside City's half, paralysed by the invention and confused by the overloads in wide areas. Ollie Watkins was the man who had that touch and, with the crowd up, did well to manufacture an opportunity for Leon Bailey at the back post.
City scrambled back and snuffed out Bailey's threat but there was every chance that Steven Gerrard – who had been agitated with his full backs for an erratic defensive shape – could see his side cause problems if their tempo remained high and possession direct.
Joao Cancelo (above) and midfielder Rodri were among the City players to test Emiliano Martinez early on in the Villa goal
The deadlock however was broken by Dias is unusual fashion, hitting a left-foot shot into the corner from outside the box
City then scored a brilliant second before the break, with Bernardo Silva volleying home Jesus' lofted cross in the box
It did for a bit. Bailey infuriated the home
