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Manchester City were minutes away from a huge victory at Arsenal in what was a very untypical performance under Pep Guardiola.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was four and a half hours into his Manchester City career and making this goalkeeping lark look easy when a chink finally appeared in his armour.
Having dealt with everything thrown at him while he was on his line, it was in that space where a goalkeeper has to decide whether to stick or twist that he was finally beaten.
Gabriel Martinelli’s superb control from Eberechi Eze’s lofted pass meant Donnarumma was stranded in no man’s land. It still needed an excellent finish to finally beat him.
When Stuart Atwell finally brought an end to a frantic afternoon, Donnarumma put his gloves over his face and then punched the floor. He knew just how close Pep Guardiola’s side had been to a result that would have reasserted their title credentials.
This was a heavyweight contest and Donnarumma threw enough right hooks at the ball to top the bill. Goalkeepers know what is coming their way at the Emirates, but the 26-year-old seemed to have the answer. Mikel Arteta said afterwards that he was "so dominant" in the box and praised his timing and execution of decisions around his six-yard box.
Arsenal had 11 corners and rarely looked like scoring from them. Donnarumma exudes a sense of calm authority in his goal, and defenders love it.
At one point in the first half, Ruben Dias stuck his chest out and wrapped his new teammate in a bear hug. Defenders love goalkeepers who are commanding, but also goalkeepers who are predictable with their decision-making. Donnarumma is both.
He spent an age over goal kicks and will go to sleep with the sound of boos ringing in his ears. It took Atwell until the 76th minute to finally brandish the yellow card in his direction.
With seven minutes added on, it looked like the approach was going to work, but having defended brilliantly when sitting deep, City were cut open when pushing up, and Donnarumma was left stranded.
It might be easy to lay some blame at his door for the goal, but Tijjani Reijnders should have taken the ball to the corner a few moments earlier and his teammates should have defended the situation better. Eze was given space in his own half to pick a pass and Nathan Ake played Martinelli onside. Martinelli also deserves credit for his touch to control the pass.
Donnarumma's full-time reaction showed how big an opportunity this was for City. A win would have propelled them right into the title race, but they are now eight points adrift of Liverpool. That is already a sizeable gap.
The goalkeeper was at the heart of a very un-City performance. This was the lowest share of possession any Guardiola team had ever had in a league game, but it was so close to being effective.
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