Newcastle United showed they were capable of at least giving Manchester City a game at the Etihad Stadium.
True, the defeat merely stretched Newcastle's poor run at this venue to 14 defeats in a row but unlike many of those losses, this one at least saw City have to work for the points. Eddie Howe's demeanour after the game was also a positive side with the Toon boss not simply happy with competing, he went there for a result.
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That Howe's team didn't get one was down to poor finishing rather than an inability to open the Citizens up. And it also took two well-worked goals from Man City to clinch the points rather than the previous defensive capitulation we've witnessed in the past.
It may have been only slight progress, but it was still a step forward for Newcastle at a venue that hasn't been kind to them down the years.
Bernardo Silva's sign of respect to Newcastle
The Portugal international chatted after the game about City's patience and why they knew going into the match that Newcastle would not be an easy prospect. Silva's goal after coming off the bench sealed the points for the champions.
Silva spoke of how things had changed for the black and whites since their last visit when they were beaten 5-0. Silva said: "Step-by-step and game-by-game, today was a very important win for us because this Newcastle side is a very tough one."
The big bonus for Newcastle - even on a day when they lost
Newcastle may have slipped away from the Champions League places in recent games but for all the talk of lowering expectations, and perhaps starting to think about the Europa League, the fact that Tottenham Hotspur lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers keeps the Champions League race wide open.
The 1-0 defeat at Molineux meant that the gap stays at four points and Newcastle still have two games in hand over Spurs. Throw in the fact that Tottenham also have to travel to St James' Park before the season is out there are plenty of reasons to retain optimism on Tyneside.
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