If this really is to be the moment Liverpool took a decisive lead down the back straight, it happened in a way that reflects perfectly the calm, still centre of their season, both goals arriving in a 23-minute spell when Mohamed Salah decided it was time to bend the day to his will.
But Salah has been top gun, the best attacking player in the world this season; and arguably the most decisive presence in any elite European team for much of the past five years.
And if it seems a little ominous still that the best attacking player in Europe is yet to sign a new contract, this is perhaps just a time to live for the present, to drink in that age of imperial Salah.
On a rain-sodden day in Manchester, the kind of afternoon when the wind chases you around, lifting up the hem of your coat and firing a draught of ice-cold water up your spine, Liverpool didn’t so much overwhelm Manchester City as stroll politely past, all controlled aggression and strength in reserve.
As the ball hit the net Salah was already clenching his fists like a man about to set fire to his air guitar, the look of a footballer who knows this game is done.
