Hope was brought to Manchester City by the arrival of Manchester United. They were optimistic above their current station.
It was hope and optimism that lasted roughly two minutes, as the reigning champions began a relentless siege that put United firmly in their place and ended in a mockery of a 6-3 thumping.
When Scott McTominay hooked Erling Haaland's goal off the line, David de Gea somehow kept out Kevin de Bruyne's shot, and the ScotlandMidfielder appeared on the scene again, United seemed to have subsided.
The game was completely dominated by City, who played without a defensiveMidfielder in Rodri's absence, and were aided by the brilliance of De Bruyne and Phil Foden.
The recent results have lifted the mood but the way they were defeated by Manchester City is a more accurate measure of where they are.
This will come as no surprise to Ten Hag, who knew the scale of his task after the opening two defeats of the season, but what will be painful was the scale of United's deficit in quality.
City and United are competitors. Don't even think about it. This was a big deal.
The home fans yelled "We want 10" and "Ole" when United strung more than three or four passes together, the inevitable concession of possession to City greeted with huge roars of delight.
The majority of United's fans left before the end of the game.
City could have had double that tally inside the first 45 minutes if United had been as bad as they were at half time.
One must wonder if Ten Hag stretched its loyalty beyond its limits by keeping faith with McTominay, Christian, and Bruno in the middle of the field.
Casemiro was left on the bench. This was surely the type of contest Manchester United had in mind when they paid £70m to get this player.
After opening with a bang, United only lasted seven minutes before Foden scored. The fight drained out of United, they were a mess, and this ruthless City side was not going to pass up the chance to humiliate them.
United looked like a team who didn't believe they could win. Maybe they were right.
Francis Lee was the last City player to score a hat-trick. Foden became the first player in Premier League history to score three successive hat-tricks at home, while Haaland became the first player in the history of the game to claim a hat-trick in back-to-back games.
The second goal was scored by Haaland, who rose above the unlikely combination of McTominay and Eriksen at a corner, as Raphael Varane recovered from an injury that forced him off.
The fact that they scored three goals to City's two in the second-half can't be compared to the time-honoured "consolation". There wasn't any reason to smile in this.
New-boy Antony's superb strike was a small ray of light in United's gloom, which was not lifted by Anthony Martial's late goal and penalty that gave the score a respectable look.
City scored two quick goals to make it 6-1 after Antony's goal. With the game over, City slackened off as they had made a number of changes.
The shots of the bench were always going to be cutaways. He looked like he had been hacked off. When Shaw was brought on for Malacia at the start of the second half, there was a lot of sympathy for him.
This made United's target clear this season. They can't be mentioned in the same sentence as City. The lack of desire in this game's lowest points, and there were plenty, was a haunting return to the suffering of the past.
If you look at the score down the line, 6-3 may not seem that bad. It could give the impression of a nine-goal thriller.
It isn't a lot of it. The margin of victory was lop-sided by the two late goals, which made it look like Manchester City were ahead of Manchester United.
Ten Hag will not have been fooled by Manchester United's recent renaissance of sorts, but this must have been the worst shower of the season for anyone who thought they were moving closer to those they hope to eventually challenge.
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