THE DISTANT TUNE of Boney. M’s “Daddy Cool” was growing louder and louder on the walk towards Manchester city centre heading away from the Etihad Stadium.
A couple of hours had almost passed after Pep Guardiola’s side cruised to a 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday.
It was a result which, until Arsenal’s win over United later that evening, reduced the gap at the top of the Premier League table to just two points.
City fans heading for a night cap in town were buoyant – especially this pair who were hailing one of their heroes with, it’s reasonably fair to assume, an alcohol-induced duet.
“Johnny, Johnny Stones, he gets the Blues excited, he f***ing hates United.”
On and on they sang for about half a mile, one of them eventually stumbling on the footpath and needing to be gripped by his friend on the Stone Island badge of his jacket to avoid going head first into some bushes.
The tune has stuck in the head, as is always the way, yet after the previous 90 minutes of action it was impossible not to leave buoyed by the tune Riyad Mahrez had helped elicit from his teammates.
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick (again) but it was the winger whose display typified the kind of methodical beauty that Guardiola’s team produce.
The opening goal in the 40th minute was a case in point.
When Rico Lewis cut in from the right and found himself in the middle of the park, it appeared as thought he was a deer caught in headlights. Instead of panicking or trying something outlandish like a 40-yard shot on goal, he passed the ball a few yards to his left so Rodri could take control, the 18-year-old then scurrying back to position.
City fans groaned in unison at that very moment, yet another attack seemingly stifled by reticent forward play.
Then, in an instant, the spark came.
The Spain midfielder spotted Mahrez on the right and floated a ball in front of him to run onto. Without breaking stride, the Algerian international judged the pace and trajectory of the pass to perfection, allowing the ball to cushion off the outside of his left foot just as it bounced off the turf.
It seemed so devastatingly simple to execute, but could so easily have gone awry.
Such ability to control a dropping ball while on the run, ensuring the pace of the attack could speed up rather than allow Wolves retreat deep, was matched only by the instinctive awareness that has come from five years of working with Guardiola.
The control allowed for him to continue his stride, a couple of sharp step overs enticing Wolves centre midfielder Matheus Nunes to try and double up to support left full back Hugo Bueno.
As soon as that space further back in the right channel emerged, a quick flick of the outside of the left foot teed up Kevin De Bruyne perfectly for a first-time cross into the box.
Haaland was waiting and Haaland was soon celebrating.
Those few seconds from Mahrez – the control, composure, awareness and selflessness – have stuck in the mind as much as that bloody “Daddy Cool” tune.
At a key moment – five minutes before half time – in what ultimately proved to be a comfortable Sunday stroll, Mahrez had all the tools to bring a team, and crowd, to life.
A softness of touch matched by a killer instinct.
Until that moment City seemed listless and lacking inspiration.
He might just be the one to keep their spark alive as they hunt down Arsenal. With a five-point gap and the Gunners also having a game in hand to potentially extend that further, the chance to inflict some kind of psychological blow to throw them off course comes in the FA Cup tonight.
When United and Arsenal slugged it out in that epic 1999 season, ultimately going on to win what remains an unsurpassed Treble, the moment many look back on as the decisive blow came when Ryan Giggs bobbed and weaved and then bared his hairy-chest to the world in a burst of emotion following a goal – and a moment – that is everlasting.
City feel far more methodical, almost too pristine in their approach, but in Mahrez they have the same kind of mercurial talent who has the intelligence and willingness to operate within such a framework, yet is capable of exploding from within it to do something that might just destabilise and throw Arsenal off course.
A different kind of inspiration might now be required for City to rein in a team producing the kind of thrilling verve that shows no sign of abating.