Everton's travels to the Etihad over the last decade-plus have been quite poor, with the Blues often looking like they've barely shown up to play the match while Manchester City run them ragged.
In many ways, Saturday's 2-0 loss at the hands of City was par for that particular course, but it also often felt quite different in many ways. The first half was notably different than other trips, as Everton didn't look out of place, mostly due to the inspired play of Iliman Ndiaye.
Sure, City still held 68% of the ball, connecting on 312 total passes at a 91% clip while getting off 9 total shots (3 on target) and an xG of 0.99. But Everton fought hard to stay in the match and nearly took an early lead through Beto, a chance he very well should have buried into the back of the net.
In the end, just as we suspected, Erling Haaland was the difference, as he often is. His two goals were well-taken, and the Premier League's leading scorer was not to be denied on this day.
In spite the best efforts of Ndiaye, who is finally receiving recognition as one of the league's most exciting players, Everton didn't have enough to keep City down for too long. Most of this just comes down to a difference in quality between the two sides.
Without Jack Grealish, who couldn't play against his parent club, Everton were unable to create many chances throughout the match. And while this should probably indicate how important it is for Everton to develop tactics beyond using Grealish as a talisman, his import was quite clear on Saturday.
Ultimately, the loss shows that while Everton are much improved this season with the addition of new players like Grealish, there's still plenty to do in order to rise this club back into European prominence. Chief among those issues might be the continued questions swirling around the Everton strikers, who still have just one goal between Beto and Thierno Barry in eight Premier League matches.
But all those issues aren't going to be solved now, with weeks to go until the January transfer window, so Everton must take solace in how effective their play was for a good chunk of the match until Haaland opened the floodgates.
Stability was always the main focus of this campaign, and Everton seem to be well on the way toward that goal. There's no shame in losing to City, especially on their home ground, but it simply proves there's plenty more to do on Merseyside.