Manchester City continued to build this season as they defeated Villarreal in Spain to stretch to seven points from three Champions League outings this season.

Pep Guardiola’s side still aren’t at their rip-roaring best, but considering they are now nine matches undefeated across all competitions, they will take plenty of positives back to the Etihad before heading to Aston Villa for a Premier League clash on Sunday.

While the Citizens as a whole are not firing on all cylinders, they are certainly getting there. And when Erling Haaland is in such unstoppable, undefinably brilliant form, it raises the level of the unit and then some.

Erling Haaland's incredible Man City form continues

He can’t stop scoring. How many times have we heard that hackneyed football saying? Well, for Haaland, it’s a truism: the Norwegian striker truly cannot stop finding the back of the net, with his first-half goal against the Yellow Submarine extending his scoring streak to 12 consecutive fixtures for club and country.

With 18 goals from 14 recent Man City games, there’s no doubt that Guardiola wields one of the most devastating strikers in the world. But then we’ve all known that for a while.

Against Villarreal, he was at his trademark best. 12 touches, four successful passes. The 25-year-old lost all three duels (data via Sofascore).

He’s not an expansive striker, and he doesn’t need to be. Haaland is, quite simply, a world-class purveyor of goals.

He is fuelled by a hard-working and dynamic supporting cast, and there was one man in particular who continued his fine form at the Estadi de la Ceramica, surely enjoying his most colourful purple patch in a City shirt.

The Man City star in the form of his career

Guardiola once said Matheus Nunes is among the best players in the world.

He since amended that statement, but there’s no question that the sagacious Spaniard saw something special in the Portuguese talent and signed him when he could.

Refashioned from midfielder to right-back, Nunes has ebbed and flowed in a Manchester City shirt, but he’s been brilliant all season.

After impressing against Everton at the weekend, he put in a stunning showing against Villarreal, with reporter Simon Bajkowski noting he was “outplaying Villarreal every time” down the right flank.

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As per the norm, City dominated the possession, and they made their control count, with Nunes instrumental in the build-up, completing 97 of 99 attempted passes, taking 110 touches and recovering three loose balls. He won four of five duels.

The 27-year-old was handed an 8/10 match rating by the Daily Express, praised for the completeness of his performance. He defended well and combined neatly with Savinho throughout, showcasing a revival of concentration and rarely suffering the defensive lapses that had plagued him and kept him on the sidelines for much of his early Manchester career.

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Though there will be some who continue to champion the arrival of a natural right-back in the future, Guardiola has always been an outside-the-box thinker, and he’s finally got Nunes playing to his tune.

Nunes is in the finest form of his Man City career, and with a continuation of this resurgence, he will only strengthen Pep’s fight for more silverware and the wider understanding that, no, in spite of Haaland’s brilliance, City are much more than a one-man team.