As the full-time whistle brought Manchester City's Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund to a close, there was palpable relief at the Etihad. They had gotten away with one.
City toiled against the visiting Germans but had little spark or ingenuity. Dortmund had set up deep and compact, making them incredibly difficult to break down. The attacking spectacle many had expected hadn't come to pass, with a stodgy war of attrition being played instead. Jude Bellingham gave his side the lead and that made them even more determined not to concede.
It looked like they would achieve it too but then John Stones whacked the ball in a Vincent Kompany-esque fashion from 25 yards and the whole complexion changed. City had the winds in their sails, the momentum and, of course, Erling Haaland. The Norwegian sensation scored a ridiculous volley and the Blues got away with it.
But the victory couldn't mask Jack Grealish's poor display. While no City forward got much joy until the final 15 minutes, Grealish was particularly bad. He snatched at shots which were easily blocked, his passing was wayward and he wasn't beating anyone with the ball, repeatedly running down blind allies instead.
He was hooked immediately after the Dortmund opener and could have no complaints. Grealish had been given leeway by many after a non-event of a first season at City following his £100million move. It usually takes attacking signings a season to get to grips with Pep Guardiola's demands but over 12 months on and little progress appeared to have been made. It was approaching time for questions to be asked.
Yet Guardiola stood by his player. He defended Grealish afterwards and kept him in the starting XI for the following game at Wolves. Grealish immediately went about answering those questions. He turned in the opener in the first minute and then had a great game. The brave and imaginative playmaker that dazzled at Aston Villa was back as he weaved through defenders and drove City forward. Even getting a studded boot square in the nuts didn't deter him.
He then went on to have brilliant performances against FC Copenhagen and Manchester United as he finally started to look like he belongs at City. The front three of Grealish, Haaland and Phil Foden is clearly City's best at this point. Even though he still doesn't have the most impressive returns in goal contributions, he was heavily involved in the build-up to a lot of the goals scored.
Grealish dropped out of the side for Liverpool in an experiment that backfired. City lost their attacking rhythm and suffered their first defeat of the season, showing that Grealish is more important than his stats may suggest.
They bounced back to winning ways with Grealish back in the side against Brighton and next up is the reverse fixture with Dortmund. If Grealish can put in a top performance against the club which he played so poorly against a few weeks ago it'll show just how far he has come.