Manchester City boss Kevin Keegan finally lost patience with his £19million attacking dream team at Maine Road.
Keegan has been at pains to stress his faith in the abilities of Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Fowler, yet midway through the goalless stalemate with Middlesbrough, he took the ultimate action and hauled both men off in desperate pursuit of a deadlock breaker.
While neither Jon Macken nor Shaun Goater could produce the required winner, Keegan's move was hugely significant given the investment City have made in the first-choice pairing, who have now mustered just two goals in eight matches together.
Certainly, Keegan's team selection for the Good Friday trip to Tottenham will be eagerly anticipated as any lingering relegation worries have now disappeared.
In the eight matches since Fowler's arrival, City have mustered just five points, and have scored only twice in their last five outings.
All their best work here came after Keegan made his fateful move, although the outstanding home player was again young midfielder Joey Barton. In truth, it did not take much of a display from the 20-year-old, with Middlesbrough contributing equally to a dire game, which has extinguished the Teessiders hopes of a UEFA Cup spot next year.
In an opening period which failed to bring a single save, the highlight came after approximately 20 seconds when Jonathan Greening carved out some space down the Boro left and delivered a cross to the near post which Joseph Desire Job touched just wide.
The nearest the visitors came to scoring after that was when Malcolm Christie charged down Peter Schmeichel's attempted clearance and the rebound rolled inches away from the great Dane's goal.
City's clearest opportunity came when Anelka sprinted into the hole Colin Cooper left when he slipped under no pressure. The Frenchman cut the ball back to Marc-Vivien Foe, who promptly sliced his shot 15 yards wide.
If Foe's return was expected to inspire City to greater effort, it did not work and neither did Anelka look like the £13million striker he is supposed to be.
The Frenchman's non-contribution was summed up neatly in the final minute of the half when, taking the free-kick Ugo Ehiogu had conceded with a clear handball, he strode up purposefully, then rifled his shot into the top row of
the stand.
While entertainment levels at the start of the second half only bordered on average, it was significantly better than what had gone before.
It started with the first shot on target - which came after 50 minutes when Anelka drove an effort straight into Mark Schwarzer's midriff, then continued with what amounted to the best chance of the game, which fittingly arrived
through a mistake.
Juninho is hardly the greatest physical threat imaginable, yet the Brazilian's presence seemed to unsettle Schmeichel when he attempted to claim Job's cross.
The Dane fumbled and while three City defenders dallied in their efforts to clear the ball, which had landed inside the six-yard box, Christie looked set to pounce before Shaun Wright-Phillips punted the ball away.
It was desperate stuff from the home side and Keegan knew he had to act and shred his big-name strikeforce in the process.
Anelka for one did not look too impressed but the City fans certainly were, greeting Macken and Goater like long-lost brothers.
It seemed to inspire the home players as well as they produced by far their best endeavours as they went in search of victory.
Ultimately, it came to nothing. The last Saturday match at this famous old ground will not be remembered with any fondness.
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