(Erik Lamela tussles with fellow Argentine Martin Demichelis - image via Julian Finney/Getty Images)
It was the smile of a Manchester City fan who had just watched a comedy sketch worthy of north Manchester's Sunday league - the sniggering pointing in the direction of an Argentinian duo who earn more in five minutes than the entire population of that league do in a year. On Saturday afternoon, they, and Manchester City's side in general, were earning the tag of the Premier League's bottlers.
"Why are you smiling?," I was asked by a friend.
"Because I'm not surprised," I replied.
Any City supporter would have issued you with the same response. After winning our first five league games with not even a smudge to rub off Joe Hart's gloves, a catastrophe was always more likely to follow over continued success. Successive defeats against Juventus and West Ham United were briefly consoled by the 4-1 mauling of Sunderland in the Capital One Cup, but City suffered a similar fate to that of the Black Cats when they visited White Hart Lane last weekend. Harry Kane and Erik Lamela scored in the 4-1 win over Pellegrini's side - two players you could have bet your family's wellbeing on scoring before the game - and two of the goals were offside. And by offside I mean "has the linesman fallen asleep?" offside.
It was a bad day for the linesmen, but even worse for the Blues who look to be running out of steam after an excellent start to the campaign. Manchester United now sit at the top of the table and, even worse, David James is beginning to show his face again.
Not all is gloom and doom, though. If anything was going to derail City's sizzling start to the season, it was going to be injuries. It's no coincidence that injuries to David Silva, Vincent Kompany, Sergio Agüero and Joe Hart - our best players - have run parallel with poor results. Money has been spent on the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling who have certainly made a significant impact on the team, but no amount of money can compensate for a spine that has been integral to City's success in the last five years. Without the leadership of Hart and Kompany, the mind of Silva and the incisiveness of Agüero, any team, regardless of their other assets, will struggle.
(City have missed the leadership skills of their captain Vincent Kompany - image via Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
City have shown that, with that spine, they are capable of dismantling any side. No team in the division is yet to play the entertaining football that City have played so far this term and no team in the division has the same luxury of talent we currently have at our disposal. With a point to prove, Pellegrini's men must take advantage of their next three fixtures to provide a reaction.
No fixture is easy, but City will expect to win their next three games should the services of Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and David Silva become available to them once again. Kompany was on the bench in the weekend defeat and both Hart and Silva have a chance for Wednesday according to their manager. The Blues travel to Germany in the week to face Borussia Mönchengladbach who have won only twice in seven Bundesliga games this season. The Germans, in their current form, present City with their best chance of getting their first Champions League points on the board and it's an opportunity they must take if group qualification is to be secured.
Home fixtures against 19th place Newcastle United and newly promoted Bournemouth follow. City haven't lost a home league game against the Magpies since 2000 and have never lost a domestic game against Bournemouth in their entire history. These are must win games.
Both the Champions League and the Premier League has a tendency of throwing up shock results on occasion, but Manchester City must ensure they are not the victims of that infamous 'magic' in the next month if silverware is on the agenda this season.
