Kyle Walker admitted the fear of incurring the wrath of his parents was behind his low-key reaction to scoring the winner against Sheffield United.
The full-back marked his 100th Premier League appearance for Manchester City with a decisive 28th-minute strike from outside the box against his former club at Bramall Lane.
Having come through the Blades' academy, Sheffield-born Walker's mother and father still live in the city and he did not want to risk angering them.
"My mum and dad live here, so if I'd celebrated I'd have got a lot of stick," he told BT Sport after Saturday's 1-0 win. "I'm a Sheffield United fan, so I couldn't celebrate.
"I'm happy to get on the scoresheet and obviously happy to get the three points, which was the main thing coming up here.
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"They're well-drilled. Everyone knows their position and they're a tough team to break down, but luckily enough I came up with the goal."
The visitors were dominant but had to settle for just the one goal, with Aaron Ramsdale in fine form, making seven saves.
Despite lacking that clinical edge in the absence of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, Walker took the positives.
"I'm enjoying my football. We don't sit back and defend," he said. "We want to score three or four, but it's great to get the clean sheet on the board as well.
"Defensively we've done fantastically well, especially Ruben [Dias] since he's come in. Whoever steps in, they're all going to put in top performances.
"There was always going to be a hangover [from last season]. It's just what we're dealing with at this moment in time."
The win alleviates some of City boss Pep Guardiola's frustrations over their league form, with the eight-point yield from the previous five top-flight games representing his worst start to a season.
Opposite number Chris Wilder's woes deepened, though, as United have now gone seven games without a win at the start of a season for the first time since 1991-92. It leaves Wilder still stranded on 99 wins at the helm, having not tasted victory in his last 11 games in all competitions – his longest such streak in management.