Eighty-five minutes were on the clock when Hull substitute Shaun Maloney pulled the ball back for Andrea Ranocchia. The Italian's prodded shot was awkward and lacking in both power and precision.

John Stones was standing in front of Claudio Bravo but there was no reason for the Manchester City goalkeeper not to stop it. Instead the ball squirmed under his left arm as he made an unconvincing attempt to keep it out, and the Etihad fell silent.

It was Hull's first goal attempt of the match and they had scored. Not an entirely unusual statistic considering Bravo's track record in English football so far. That's seven goals conceded from his last seven shots faced. Lucky for him that City were already three goals to the good when Ranocchia scored, or there would be more of an inquest.

Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is beaten by a weak shot from Andrea Ranocchia

Lucky too for Pep Guardiola who made the decision to recall the Chile international for his first Premier League appearance in two and a half months.

'I decide that, simple no reason,' was Guardiola's answer when asked why he played Bravo in place of Willy Caballero. 'He has trained well. I will decide game by game, and today I decide that.

'With the build-up, Claudio is the best goalkeeper in the world with (Andre) Ter Stegan and Manuel Neuer. Two or three chances in the first half Claudio created with the good build-up.'

Still, it's hard to believe that Bravo hasn't made a save in the league since January 2 when City beat Burnley 2-1 here.

A subsequent 4-0 defeat at Everton and 2-2 draw with Tottenham saw City's much-maligned goalkeeper concede all six shots he faced.

It took Bravo's running total to 16 goals from 24 attempts. Enough was enough. Guardiola axed the man on whom he had staked so much, and recalled a safe pair of hands in Caballero.

Bravo was relegated to the role of FA Cup goalkeeper, brought back to face the likes of Huddersfield and Middlesbrough. It was not exactly what everyone had in mind when he was signed from Barcelona last summer for £15.4 million to replace England No 1 Joe Hart.

When City beat Huddersfield 5-1 in a fifth-round replay here at the start of March, some of their own supporters cheered sarcastically as Bravo completed the most simple of tasks.

Former Barcelona goalkeeper Bravo looks dejected after conceding late on against Hull City

Caballero kept goal in the Premier League for eight games until he lost his place for the visit of Hull, apparently paying the price for Chelsea's first goal at Stamford Bridge in midweek when Eden Hazard's early effort took a crucial nick off Vincent Kompany on its way past the Argentine.

It always felt as though Guardiola would not need much encouragement to bring back Bravo. Of all the principles he has stuck to since arriving in England – and you cannot fault the man's record at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – his belief in Bravo, and a system that leans heavily on a goalkeeper who can pass out from the back, has been the hardest to defend.

There have been times when keeping it simple – like playing a keeper who first and foremost is good at keeping the ball out of his net – seemed the obvious thing to do.

By the time Bravo was dropped from the team to face West Ham at the start of February, he had the second best pass completion in the Premier League but also the lowest saves per goal ratio.

But Guardiola was always going to bring him back at some stage and perhaps Hull at home was the ideal occasion.

This was, after all, a team that have not won away in the league in 15 games stretching back to August, picking up just two points from a possible 42. The toothless Tigers had scored just twice away from the KCom Stadium in 11 league matches. And just for good measure, their last away win over City came 87 years ago in the FA Cup.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola directs his players from the touchline at the Etihad

So if there was a safe environment in which to begin Bravo's rehabilitation then this was it.

And so it proved for 85 minutes. Dressed about as conspicuously as you possibly could be in luminous kit and matching boots, he strolled about the penalty area clocking up those short passes to his teammates in blue; doing what he does best.

There was a smattering of applause when he clipped a 30-yard pass to the feet of John Stones and then Gael Clichy. Nothing that Caballero couldn't manage. Nor Hart for that matter. But on days like these, you get Guardiola's point.

The problem is that most days aren't like this in the Premier League; comfortable wins against struggling opposition in the sunshine.

Bravo celebrates after watching his side score their third goal of the afternoon against Hull

It would have been interesting to see how Bravo fared in City's last two games, away to Arsenal and Chelsea, and that's probably why he was kept on the bench.

Hull didn't test him until right at the end which, of course, isn't Bravo's fault. Their best attempt, from Kamil Grosicki in the first half, was kept out by his own teammate Oumar Niasse. When Grosicki tried again moments later, Stones blocked the shot from ever reaching his goalkeeper.

That brief Hull rally followed immediately after Ahmed Elmohamady's own-goal in the 31st minute and it was largely a procession after that. Sergio Aguero and Fabian Delph were on target in the second half while Bravo sunned himself at the other end of the ground.

When the moment came to prove himself with five minutes of normal time remaining, however, he once again came up short.

It was an incident that will be seized upon by his critics, and rightly so. One shot faced, one goal conceded. It is becoming a familiar, and damning, statistic for Claudio Bravo.