Just as Pep Guardiola said Sergio Aguero will still be scoring goals as an old man, you wonder if the Catalan will see out his days watching anyone he can at the far post turning in a low cutback.
It has been the trademark Manchester City goal since the giddy days of the 2017/18 season, when Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling destroyed defenders so regularly and comprehensively that a return to those days is called for whenever the Blues turn in a sluggish performance. Guardiola's team is far more about control now with the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish on the wings, but they showed at Bristol City that they are still capable of reproducing the greatest hits.
With just six minutes gone, Mahrez collected an aerial ball exquisitely on the right side before giving to Kevin De Bruyne and darting beyond the static defence into the box. Receiving it back again, he swung a right-footed cross across the six-yard box where Phil Foden was waiting to smash it into the net.
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It was simple, it was devastating, and it was exactly the sort of game that indicates a City team that is ticking. There have been enough false dawns in City's campaign not to get carried away, but they are ending the month unrecognisable from the lifeless, listless bunch that surrendered at Tottenham at the start of February.
Guardiola knows all too well how tricky lower league opposition can be, and a Bristol City side that were unbeaten in 12 caused them more problems than the likes of Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have recently.
Mark Sykes, Sam Bell, and Alex Scott - the latter dubbed the Guernsey Grealish after modelling his game on the £100m man right down to how he wears his socks - troubled the City defence from the start. Ruben Dias had to be alert to turn the ball behind in the second minute after Kalvin Phillips and Manu Akanji had given it away cheaply, then Rico Lewis was fortunate that Andre Marriner decided he hadn't brought Sykes down in the box; even if it didn't look a penalty at first glance, it certainly looked one that plenty of officials would give.
The early, clinical goal from the visitors helped to take the sting out of a tie that Bristol City and their fans had been up there. After that early blemish, Phillips grew into the game on just his second start since his £45m move from Leeds and settled into the role that Rodri has made his own for so long.
If Phillips illustrated the evolution that the team are still trying to master, their star man could still revolutionise the game. Not only did Foden score the opening goal, but he put in the kind of performance that made you wonder how City lasted without him this season and how Guardiola can consider leaving him out again.
Everything, from his touch to his decision-making to his worryingly high pace, meant that he had his full-back and much of the game on strings. The home fans booed on several occasions when lung-busting runs to receive balls over the top were not flagged offside, but that simply underlined that he was so quick nobody could believe it.
There were laughs in the final minutes when it was announced not once but twice that Sergio Gomez had come on for Foden, but you could hardly blame him for thinking he'd seen double. Two goals from the 22-year-old were ultimately the difference on the night.
If Foden was the talisman, City also fulfilled Guardiola's fundamental request of running like their lives depended on it. Bernardo Silva was constantly shuttling about the pitch and Kevin De Bruyne legged it at full pace just to stop the ball going out for a throw so that an attack could continue in the second half; City would have had the throw, but the Belgian didn't want them to lose their momentum.
Seeing somebody like De Bruyne do that, someone who scored at this ground five years ago to take City into the Carabao Cup final in what would be the first of many trophies under Guardiola, can only have pleased the manager.
It did not seem insignificant that the City boss chose United winning their first trophy in six years to stop being ultra nice about them and point out some home truths, but all season he has been challenging his players to find the hunger and determination that comes naturally to the Arsenals and Uniteds who do not experience winning trophies as 'another day at the office'.
Just as City looked the inevitable scorers of the next goal in the second half, the hosts roared back after the hour mark and the crowd responded. Ruben Dias and Akanji suddenly felt a little less secure and the protection for Ederson - on as a half-time sub for the injured Stefan Ortega - weakened as well.
But if the more pessimistic supporters were starting to think about Forest and those other games where City have squandered a lead in a game they have dominated, up stepped Foden to score his second of the night and make the game safe. De Bruyne rattled in a third shortly after just for good measure.
However Guardiola sees out his retirement, he will have plenty of trophies to reminisce over and the evidence from Bristol is that he and his team are set on winning more. With passage to the FA Cup quarter-finals safely navigated, there will be no fear of anyone in the draw for the next round.
Newcastle await on Saturday in another stiff test of their Premier League credentials and the hunger that they have to build a winning run and challenge on multiple fronts. A performance in this ballpark, particularly from Foden, will go a long way towards keeping City ambitions motoring.
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