Kevin De Bruyne shot a shot that came closer to the corner flag and he looked at the sky. Pep Guardiola turned in frustration before he went to the tunnel while blew the half-time whistle.
It was 45 minutes what Manchester City reminded how far they fell behind the Rivals Liverpool this season.
In reality this entire week has proven how much city this term has withdrawn. They were easily sent on Wednesday by Real Madrid in the Champions League. Their defeat by Liverpool left them 20 points from the Reds at the top of the table.
Their hope for winning five competitions in a row disappeared some time ago. Not since the 2019-2020 season when Liverpool walked away from Jurgen Klopp with the title that the Guardiola side is so far behind.
But they never reached the Spaniard at the end of February and have been out of battle in both the Premier League and the European Cup.
Guardiola tried to save something from the season with a £ 172 million stores in the market in January.
The arrivals of Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and the impressive Omar Marmoush are the start of Guardiola's recovery from his once comprehensive side.
But there is more work to do in the summer. It seems that De Bruyne will leave when his contract ends. The Belgian midfielder was so often the star of this team, but he is no longer so smart. A great player but now embodies their fall of this season.
His first half attempted that together. It was a shot mixed with frustration and lethargy. A player who was angry with himself that he could not dictate a fixture that he would have cherished in his splendor.
Guardiola took him with more than 20 minutes to still go with his side in the game that would have been unthinkable not so long ago.
The focus of De Bruyne and City will now ensure that they end in the top four or five to qualify for next season's Champions League with the FA Cup their only chance of silverware. Then a new look Guardiola side hope that this fixture will be title decision again next season.
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