I feared they might be off the boil with over 2 weeks having passed since the fantastc derby performance at Old Trafford.
Yet we weren't just bad, we were absolutely woeful. Isn't it amazing how City always find a way to surprise us? But that's why we love them!
Everton were solid at the break and always a threat on the break - sounds familiar, doesn't it. We've been on a similar level to Everton this season, with similar attributes and similar ambitions, but not on Monday's showing.
So often a rock in defence this season, Dunney was all over the show, and there was no spark going forward, even with Elano having the whole of the second half to make an impression.
There was a gulf between the two teams, which suggested that while Everton will be challenging for Champions League football this season, we'll be lucky to get European qualification.
Although Everton are a hard team to beat and stop you playing, they can't stop effort and passion - that's entirely up to you - and there was none of it from the City players.
We've got it in us - the derby win showed that - so I think we can salvage something from this season. But it needed some sterm words from Sven to help us rediscover that form.
There may well have been some behind closed doors - I guess we'll see against Wigan on Saturday - but there were none after Monday's game.
"This was a real disappointment," said Sven. "We did not play that badly and had a lot of possession without getting any penetration. But we conceded two easy goals, both at set-pieces and that's too dangerous at this level."
The first goal started from a throw-in, which isn't really a set-piece, and there were several further phases before Dunney left Yakubu to run into the box unchallenged and turn in Tim Cahill's centre.
"We tried hard in the second half but with our attacks they were able to break and still create chances," Sven added. "Of course Everton are a strong team, well organised and they defended very well.
"It was important that they scored first. In a game like this you don't expect too many chances, and had we created something in the first half-hour, maybe we would have had a different result."
That's very optimistic from Sven as even if we had scored first, I'm sure Everton would have come back - they looked the better team from the outset.
And that's overlooking the fact we did not have a shot on target until the 85th minute. You're never going to get the first goal if that's the case, and although it was difficult to penetrate the Everton defence, there's little excuse for a home side taking that long to at least test their keeper.
The very least Sven could have done was lay into Martin Petrov for getting himself sent off in stoppage time.
He went for Yakubu just a few moments earlier so surely you'd be thinking, 'gee, I got away with that one so I best not try it again'.
Instead he aims a pathetic half-hearted swipe at Leon Osman and gets himself a 3-match ban, but Sven overlooked that too.
Sven argues Petrov barely touched Osman, yet that makes it even more ridiculous. Why get yourself sent off if you're not even going to hurt the fella?
"I would have been much happier if the referee had shown Petrov a yellow card for the first challenge and then another yellow for the second," said Sven.
"I thought a straight red card for the second challenge was harsh. The Everton player backed into him, and there was a bit of a flick from Petrov.
"I haven't spoken to the referee about it, but if you saw the reaction of the Everton players, you could see that they were surprised by the decision.
"It needs more than just a word from me with Martin now because we lose him for 3 games and that is hard for us."
Perhaps the significance is not lost on Sven after all, although some public criticism would surely have helped shaming Petrov into not pulling another stunt like that.
Yet we weren't just bad, we were absolutely woeful. Isn't it amazing how City always find a way to surprise us? But that's why we love them!
Everton were solid at the break and always a threat on the break - sounds familiar, doesn't it. We've been on a similar level to Everton this season, with similar attributes and similar ambitions, but not on Monday's showing.
So often a rock in defence this season, Dunney was all over the show, and there was no spark going forward, even with Elano having the whole of the second half to make an impression.
There was a gulf between the two teams, which suggested that while Everton will be challenging for Champions League football this season, we'll be lucky to get European qualification.
Although Everton are a hard team to beat and stop you playing, they can't stop effort and passion - that's entirely up to you - and there was none of it from the City players.
We've got it in us - the derby win showed that - so I think we can salvage something from this season. But it needed some sterm words from Sven to help us rediscover that form.
There may well have been some behind closed doors - I guess we'll see against Wigan on Saturday - but there were none after Monday's game.
"This was a real disappointment," said Sven. "We did not play that badly and had a lot of possession without getting any penetration. But we conceded two easy goals, both at set-pieces and that's too dangerous at this level."
The first goal started from a throw-in, which isn't really a set-piece, and there were several further phases before Dunney left Yakubu to run into the box unchallenged and turn in Tim Cahill's centre.
"We tried hard in the second half but with our attacks they were able to break and still create chances," Sven added. "Of course Everton are a strong team, well organised and they defended very well.
"It was important that they scored first. In a game like this you don't expect too many chances, and had we created something in the first half-hour, maybe we would have had a different result."
That's very optimistic from Sven as even if we had scored first, I'm sure Everton would have come back - they looked the better team from the outset.
And that's overlooking the fact we did not have a shot on target until the 85th minute. You're never going to get the first goal if that's the case, and although it was difficult to penetrate the Everton defence, there's little excuse for a home side taking that long to at least test their keeper.
The very least Sven could have done was lay into Martin Petrov for getting himself sent off in stoppage time.
He went for Yakubu just a few moments earlier so surely you'd be thinking, 'gee, I got away with that one so I best not try it again'.
Instead he aims a pathetic half-hearted swipe at Leon Osman and gets himself a 3-match ban, but Sven overlooked that too.
Sven argues Petrov barely touched Osman, yet that makes it even more ridiculous. Why get yourself sent off if you're not even going to hurt the fella?
"I would have been much happier if the referee had shown Petrov a yellow card for the first challenge and then another yellow for the second," said Sven.
"I thought a straight red card for the second challenge was harsh. The Everton player backed into him, and there was a bit of a flick from Petrov.
"I haven't spoken to the referee about it, but if you saw the reaction of the Everton players, you could see that they were surprised by the decision.
"It needs more than just a word from me with Martin now because we lose him for 3 games and that is hard for us."
Perhaps the significance is not lost on Sven after all, although some public criticism would surely have helped shaming Petrov into not pulling another stunt like that.