At the heart of it all was Guardiola – excitable, animated and showing with every action just how important the FA Cup is to him and City.
Even by his own standards, Guardiola has rarely looked as engaged and involved as this.
He has a huge rebuild on his hands, and some cracks were still visible here, with an ageing squad containing the players he described as “legendary” called into action such as Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne.
This might be the last shot at glory as City players for some.
And the use of Matheus Nunes at right-back, a position even his greatest admirers would not suggest he has the qualities for, showed how Guardiola has had an air of desperation about some resources he has juggled this season.
This was, however, about the here and now – not the future. The old trophy-winning muscle memory of Guardiola and his players kicked in when it mattered.
If the FA Cup really is struggling to count as a consolation prize for Guardiola and City this season, you could have fooled everyone inside this ground who watched him.
Winning the cup would not disguise the scale of the renewal Guardiola must oversee to restore City to their former eminence, but the great old prize will certainly be something to be going on with.
The club also expects to learn the outcome of the hearing into 115 charges of alleged Premier League financial rule breaches imminently.
Guardiola’s fist-pumping reaction to Haaland’s equaliser was a wild outpouring of joy, as was his reaction to Marmoush’s winner. The manager even picked up a booking for an altercation with the officials.
Haaland suffered a mixed day, missing a third penalty from his past six attempts, then limping off with an ankle injury after his goal.
The strike for the equaliser means he is the first player to score 30 goals or more in all competitions in each of his first three seasons while playing for Premier League clubs since Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester Utd from 2001-02 to 2003-04.
It looked like it was all Guardiola could do to stop himself entering the action at some points, mixing applause for his players with furious expressions of discontent at moments of carelessness.
And at the final whistle Guardiola’s elation overflowed in front of City fans basking in the glorious sunshine.
He marched at pace around every player, wrapping them in fierce bear hugs and even planting kisses on some.
