When Burton Albion got promoted to the Championship back in May 2016, perhaps some expected a few more afternoons like this for them.
As it is, it took until their 52nd game for a clash in which Nigel Clough's side were outclassed from the first minute to the last.
There were times last season when matches got away from Albion after they had enjoyed dominant spells.
Even this term, with last month's 4-1 loss at Hull City, we have seen them - down to 10 men at the time - well beaten after genuinely threatening a positive result earlier in the outing.
At Elland Road on Saturday, though, Burton met an unbeaten Leeds United side in scintillating form and were soundly overcome.
As Clough said afterwards: "we couldn't do anything to stop them this afternoon."
With Thomas Christiansen's Whites unbeaten in all competitions this season and having got off to their best second-tier start in more than three decades before the international break, they were always likely to bring an intensity to the game that Albion would have to deal with.
That meant the Brewers looking to frustrate and stifle their hosts early on, with Clough electing for a 4-5-1 formation out of possession to provide that cover.
That setup, plus the inevitable ins and outs of transfer deadline day, meant there were five changes from the side that drew 1-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday last time out.
Stephen Bywater continued in goal behind a four-man defence that featured the returning John Brayford at right-back, on-field captain Jake Buxton and Ben Turner at centre-half, and Stephen Warnock, back from injury, in at left-back.
That defence allowed Kyle McFadzean to again start as a deep-lying central midfielder, with ex-Rochdale pair Matty Lund and Jamie Allen - on debut for the Brewers - joining him in the middle.
Joe Mason, meanwhile, was given a first Burton start after scoring a memorable debut goal against Wednesday, originally placed on the right, with Sean Scannell on the left flank and Lucas Akins leading the line.
Mason and Akins would quickly swap roles as Albion looked for a more experienced defensive presence on the right with Vurnon Anita causing some early problems, a couple of quick one-twos allowing him the chance to fire in low crosses that Burton's back four dealt with.
In truth, though, whether it was Akins or Mason as the Burton player furthest upfield, there was very little involvement for any Brewers in an attacking sense.
The template for the game was laid down from kick-off, the pace of Leeds' passing and their movement in the final third dragging Albion out of their shape and opening up gaps to be exploited.
One such move saw space down the right for Kemar Roofe, who burst into the box and cut possession back into the path of debutant Pierre-Michel Lasogga.
His swept finish beat Bywater's dive, only for Brayford to produce the first of surely many last-gasp blocks this season, the ex-Derby County man reading the moment so well to charge back and slide into the ball's intended path.
Turner was then called upon to put his body on the line moments later when possession from the opposite flank was knocked back towards the penalty spot by Anita, again for Lasogga. The presence of Turner was enough to prevent the debutant nudging the Whites in front.
But such was the defensive pressure the Brewers were being put under by their hosts, they had no genuine outlet when the ball broke to them, with so many players forced back to withstand Leeds' advances.
Allen looked lively on the couple of occasions he had space to burst into, although there was rarely enough support for him to spark an attack from it, while Akins was again tireless in his efforts across the pitch, but his hold-up play was moot given the lack of players to latch onto the ball when it was held up for them.
In fairness to Clough's men, they had just about ridden out the opening 20 minutes, and the raucous Elland Road crowd were slowly losing some volume, when Lasogga slid home the opener.
It was a goal that summed up everything you needed to know about Leeds' class on the day.
With Burton's midfield slightly disjointed after a previous move, Eunan O'Kane was given licence to push forward down the middle, before releasing an inch-perfect low pass that bisected Turner and Buxton and ran into the path of Lasogga, who had the pace to catch it and poke emphatically past the sprawling Bywater.
The broken deadlock seemed to free up an already shackle-free Leeds side in attack - and the lead was quickly doubled, possession worked out to Kelvin Phillips on the righthand corner of the Burton box for the Leeds wide man to bend his left foot around it and send it arcing inside the far post.
Lasogga then lashed an effort against the post as the Whites refused to provide a let-up in intensity.
And on the stroke of half-time, with Albion looking to keep themselves in with a slim chance of a remarkable second-half revival, the game was effectively put to bed by Pablo Hernandez's penalty, the spot-kick apparently awarded for a shirt tug as Lasogga and Luke Ayling both jumped for a Leeds corner.
Symbolic of the entire first half was one sliced clearance by Leeds defender Pontus Jansson when Burton embarked on a rare upfield venture.
With Scannell dispossessed on the right, Jansson's hurried clearance was shanked downfield, yet it still evaded the attempted interception of one Burton player and set the fleet-footed Samuel Saiz away down the left wing. McFadzean came across to challenge him and was booked for a foul, with Leeds threatening the counter.
The Albion defender-cum-midfielder was duly substituted just before half-time, with Clough feeling the risk of a red card was too great with the hosts in such electric form and so many midfield tackles to be made.
McFadzean cut a frustrated figure as he made his way off before the break - but that feeling was to be expected among every Burton player, such was their inability to affect this game.
Not that too much criticism could be aimed at the Brewers.
Yes, there were some sloppy moments when they did get hold of the ball upfield, with a couple of ponderous moments in possession seeing players fail to put through a killer final ball when a rare chance was on.
There was also a sluggishness at times in their defensive reaction to some of Leeds' moves, perhaps partially down to the unrelenting pressure they were put under.
But as Clough highlighted after the game, the eventual 5-0 scoreline had more to do with Leeds' dominance than with a below-par display by Albion.
Indeed, Christiansen's men, comfortably in charge after 45 minutes, continued to assert their dominance after the break against a tiring Burton defence.
With so much asked of them, gaps began to appear, and holes in behind were exploited.
Roofe would do just that later in the game to set up Lasogga's second of the game - but not before he got his own name on the scoresheet.
Picking up the ball just inside Albion's half, the ex-Oxford United man ran and ran at the retreating Turner. With no tackle coming from Turner, he unleashed a fierce effort from 20 yards that dipped and curved past Bywater and into the net for arguably the game's best goal.
Then came his assist. Roofe got in behind the Burton defence in the area, and had far too much time to consider the positions of his teammates in the danger zone and lob possession across for Lasogga, who rose high to nod the ball back in its previous direction and just inside Bywater's righthand upright.
A couple of Bywater saves thereafter ensured the Brewers' goal difference - already at -10 after six outings - took no more of a beating, with Allen registering Albion's only shot of the game in the 75th minute, his 25-yard effort flying well over the bar.
Burton came up against a Leeds side who look destined for a promotion push this term. Between now and May, they will face plenty more sides whose quality could have them in line for a Premier League spot in 2018/19.
One of those could be Norwich City on Tuesday, and may well be Fulham four days later.
A lesson for Clough's men from Elland Road will be that ways sometimes need finding to stop a team from playing at their best. Keeping men behind the ball can often work to frustrate a side unable to break through - but Leeds' passing and movement was too good for that on the day.
Clough suggested afterwards that it was the best all-round display his Burton side have faced since their promotion into the Championship.
Sometimes, you just have to hold your hands up and say your opponents were too good.
Albion will hope Norwich are saying that about them on Tuesday as they look to end a run of three straight away defeats at the start of this campaign.
