Yet another team found it impossible to score against Manchester City as Shakhtar Donetsk suffered a 2-0 defeat during their Champions League encounter at the Etihad Stadium the other night.
City have been scoring for fun since the start of the season and have also been defensively solid, thanks in part to the rapidly developing John Stones.
Tuesday night’s result was the sixth clean sheet which the England international has helped City to record this campaign and with each game he continues to grow in stature.
Following his £47.5million move from Everton last year there was a lot of expectation and there was a great deal of pressure on him to be an instant fit under new manager Pep Guardiola.
The 23-year-old struggled during his debut season and was even dropped by Guardiola, who demanded that he cut out the mistakes from his game.
This campaign has seen Stones respond in terrific fashion, showing real confidence at the heart of the City defence and even adding goals to his game.
A trip to Brighton and Hove Albion on the opening day was always going to be a potentially tricky encounter with the newly-promoted side representing a bit of an unknown quantity.
Whilst City had to be patient in attack before breaking the deadlock, Stones was great at cutting out any threats early on in defence and worked well alongside Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi.
After being brought off midway through the second half against his former club before coming on deep into stoppage time against Bournemouth it was still clear Stones had work to do to prove he should be a mainstay.
Just a week later Stones produced exactly the kind of response his manager had hoped for, helping to deny an extremely dangerous offensive side in Liverpool on the way to an emphatic 5-0 rout.
Although the Reds were reduced to 10 men for over half the match, Stones still had his work cut out but was effective at nullifying the threat posed by the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
Although Otamendi and Danilo also put in good performances at the back it was thanks to the organizational skills and awareness of Stones that they combined to shutout Liverpool.
That game started a fine run defensively for Stones, who has played a key role in helping City record four clean sheets during the last five games in all competitions.
While he might undoubtedly be faced with less to do because of the amazing amount of attacking talent City possess there is still a lot of evidence this season to suggest he is becoming a more well-rounded defender.
He has looked a lot more composed this season and his communication skills have improved massively which will go a long way to making sure City are formidable at both ends of the pitch.
Stones also demonstrated his usefulness in front of goal, coming up with a brace against Feyenoord on the way to a comfortable 4-0 victory.
If he can continue to showcase this side of his game he will make Guardiola a very happy man indeed and England manager Gareth Southgate as well for that matter.
With the World Cup in Russia less than a year away there is a real possibility Stones could make a case to be in the starting XI.
As long as he steers clear of injury Stones has plenty of opportunities to continue improving under the stewardship of one of the finest managers in modern history.
