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Fresh off their convincing 8-0 Premier League victory over Watford at the weekend, Manchester City travelled to Deepdale to take on Preston North End in the Third Round of the EFL Cup.
In what was another first half blitz, City raced to a 3-goal lead inside the first 45 minutes, with goals from Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and a Ryan Ledson own goal enough to put them in a commanding position at the break.
As expected, City settled into cruise control in the second half, and progressed to the fourth round with minimum fuss.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting three talking points from the fixture.
#3 Raheem Sterling back among the goals
Raheem Sterling has grown leaps and bounds from the young speedster at Liverpool into an efficient goal machine at Manchester City.
Last season, the England international was one of the stars, scoring 25 goals from 52 appearances in all competitions to help Manchester City to an unprecedented domestic treble.
This season, he started the campaign like a house on fire, scoring the only goal for Manchester City in the Community Shield win over Liverpool, and followed that up with a hat-trick in the opening day 5-0 win over West Ham.
He scored in consecutive Premier League matches, before drawing blanks in subsequent games against Brighton and Norwich, as well as the Champions League fixture with Shakhtar Donestk.
The 24-year-old was rested for the clash with Watford, and this must have been jarring for him, as his teammates ran riot in his absence, but he got a chance to regain his scoring touch when he was one of only a few first team regulars to start against Preston.
It took just 19 minutes for Sterling to open the scoring, while he also played a major part in the two other goals.
Having gotten back among the goals, Raheem Sterling would fancy his chances in the coming weeks, and City's opponents would do well to watch him starting against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
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#2 City still possess enough depth to go all the way
Last season, Manchester City made history by completing a clean sweep of all domestic trophies in England.
Heading into the current campaign, they are still everyone's odds on bet to do the same, and on evidence of the game against Preston, it would be foolhardy to disbelieve that.
The last few weeks have been clouded with doubts over City, following the long-term injury sustained by Aymeric Laporte. In the Frenchman's absence, as well as that of Kevin de Bruyne, the Cityzens fell to a shock 3-2 defeat against Norwich City.
City's injury crisis in defense saw Pep Guardiola field an inexperienced back-line, including youngsters Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Eric Garcia, while there were also starts for fringe players like Angelino and Phil Foden in the League Cup clash.
However, despite the relative inexperience of the starting XI, Manchester City still remained largely untroubled for the entirety of the 90 minutes, and at no point did their progression seem in doubt.
Preston are currently placed third in the Championship, and the fact that the defending champions dispatched of them with minimum fuss without their key players is indicative of just how much quality is present within the City ranks.
It could well be another season of unprecedented records for the Mancunians.
#1 Gabriel Jesus makes the most of his opportunity
Ever since arriving in Europe as a highly talented Brazilian teenager, Gabriel Jesus has steadily shown his abilities and proved himself a useful addition to the Guardiola system.
His goal record of 46 goals from 102 matches is more than a decent return in front of goal and is indicative of his raw goal-scoring prowess.
However, the Brazilian international is nothing more than an afterthought at Manchester City, and had made just two appearances this season.
The reason for this is not far-fetched, as the 22-year-old has Sergio Aguero in front of him, and while the Argentine international still one of the best in the art of goal-scoring, it is understandable that Jesus takes the backseat.
Appearances and starts are very much at a premium for Gabriel Jesus, and the onus is on him to take them whenever they come his way. With several first team players rested, the former Palmeiras man was handed a rare start against Preston, and he took his opportunity with aplomb.
He got his second of the season and City's second of the night when he latched onto a pass from Raheem Sterling, and he should have also put his side 4-0 up at Deepdale when he nodded over from an Angelino cross.
With matches sure to come thick and fast for Manchester City, Guardiola will definitely rotate his players in a bid to maintain freshness, and Gabriel Jesus must have impressed the demanding Catalan with his performance against Preston.
