The 5-3 win, which sent City to the top of the league going into the extended international break, may feel like it happened months ago to fans in the midst of the ongoing legal situation.

However, one of the flashpoints from that breathless afternoon in Manchester has been placed under the microscope. On the day, a contentious call landed firmly in City’s favour - and it has now been upheld.

The moment in question threatened to overshadow an entertaining contest and left the away side - as well as fans of City’s rivals - aggrieved that they had been denied a potentially decisive spot-kick. The Premier League’s review body, however, has sided with the men in the middle.

According to the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel, the decision not to award a penalty was the correct one, though only by the narrowest of margins.

The five-person panel - comprising a trio of former players and coaches, one Premier League figure and a refereeing-body representative - backed the original call by a three-to-two majority.

“The referee’s call of no penalty for a potential handball offence against Anderson was supported, 3:2,” the panel wrote. “Both players were engaged and the ball was bouncing at close proximity after deflecting off [Enzo] Le Fee. Two panellists felt that there was a deliberate secondary movement of the arm from Anderson that was a handball offence.”

The incident arrived during a chaotic second half when the ball struck Anderson’s hand as he tussled with Le Fée inside the Manchester City area. Referee Rob Jones immediately waved away the protests, and Michael Salisbury, on VAR duty at Stockley Park, saw no reason to intervene.

That combination of decisions did not sit well with Regis Le Bris, the Sunderland head coach, whose side felt they had a strong case for a spot-kick. The split verdict from the panel, with two of the five believing his arm had moved deliberately to meet the ball, suggests their frustration was not without foundation.

On the separate question of whether VAR should have stepped in, the panel was more decisive, voting four to one that Salisbury had been right to leave the original call untouched.

The match was a frantic goal-fest of the sort that City are seldom involved in these days, when it is rare for an away side to breach the Blues defence on three occasions. Had the spot-kick been awarded, there is no telling whether Erling Haaland would have gone on to seal the victory anyway in the time that remained. 

For Sunderland, the ruling offers little comfort, confirming after the fact that the officials were within their rights while doing nothing to change the scoreline. 

Manchester City, by contrast, will be grateful that a call which could have swung a wild afternoon ended up on the right side of the ledger. Anderson was cleared of any wrongdoing amidst a fine start to the season, and City will do their best to turn attention to October’s trip to Anfield.