When Riyad Mahrez briefly looked to have rescued a point for Manchester City against Tottenham, it was no thanks to Ruben Dias.
A VAR penalty award, as a game bursting with title-race tension ticked into injury time, called for calm heads.
After Anthony Taylor did the television charades sign and pointed to the spot, Dias proceed to harangue the official and rage that Cristian Romero had not been awarded a second yellow card for his handball.
As Mahrez stood with the ball under his arm waiting to spot it and do the deed, the centre-back's actions did not exactly feel like something that was likely to lead to a goal.
Thankfully, City’s Algerian maestro is now the coolest man in the room from 12 yards. It was a magnificent penalty — a demonstration of nerve and skill that was worthy of earning a point.
The fact that it didn’t, brings us back to Dias.
Harry Kane’s second to seal a 3-2 in for the visitors was the first Tottenham goal where the Portugal international did not have direct culpability, but when organisation disintegrates to such a shambolic extent, the self-styled defensive leader appearing to have lost his head doesn’t feel insignificant.
It should be noted that Dias and his colleagues were up against a master of his craft at the very top of his game. Kane was utterly sublime, first as a creator and then decisively as a lethal finisher.
But his pass for the opening goal was made so destructive by Dias haphazardly making a late call to try to play offside, giving Son Heung-min the sort of head start he never needs — certainly not against City — and the Spurs forward was left with a simple assist for Dejan Kulusevski.
It was a wonderfully constructed goal from a Tottenham point of view, but also the most obvious line of attack for a team always likely to lean into their strength on the break and Kane's wonderful passing ability from deep. It will hurt a defender of Dias’ renown that he was suckered in such a way.
Spurs’ second came against the run of play and Joao Cancelo’s lack of any attempt to track Kane’s run onto the end of Son’s cross was risible. However, that second-ball situation only arose after positionally unsure Dias botched a clearance.
For the winner, Cancelo was again to blame for not stopping Kulusevski’s cross and Kyle Walker should have done more to restrict Kane. But maybe it was also a situation that called for the sort of front-foot, macho defending Dias loves — 'out of my way, I’m taking their main man because the title is on the line'.
In the aftermath, TV viewers got their first sighting of John Stones as he consoled a crestfallen Bernardo Silva at the final whistle. The England international should certainly be more visible for the rest of the season.
City have conceded one Premier League goal with Stones on the field this season. That admittedly only amounts to eight appearances due to Dias and Laporte’s first-choice alliance, but Stones’ level has never waved in adversity.
Dias was surprisingly benched as Stones started City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea last month. The Blues’ dominance and poise as they completely nullified the European champions stands in stark contrast to the chaos that unfolded on Dias’ watch on Saturday.
As the likes of Bernardo, Laporte and Raheem Sterling have found, no one is undroppable under Guardiola and poor displays come with consequences. It might be Dias’ turn to sit out the big games coming up after his Spurs shocker. Stones has proved time and again that he is more than ready to step in.
Do you think Ruben Dias should make way for John Stones? Or should Aymeric Laporte's place be questioned? Follow City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
