For over an hour it looked like being one of those nights under Louis Van Gaal again, and then, suddenly, an 18-year-old, only thrust into the starting lineup minutes before the match, showed his striking instincts, buried a couple of goals, and just like that his team were in the driver's seat again.
Trying to shake off a 2-1 first leg deficit against FC Midtjylland in this Europa League last 32 tie, Manchester United did not have the greatest of beginnings, what with Chris Smalling and Anthony Martial pulling out because of injury.
However, Van Gaal, with no other option really, stuck Marcus Rashford out up front – Wayne Rooney is also injured – and the teenager paid his manager in full, scoring two vital goals in a flattering, but deserved 5-1 victory over FC Midtjylland, which saw Manchester United go through to the Europa League round of 16 6-3 on aggregate.
It all looked like going pear-shaped for Manchester United, when Pione Sisto, again, struck, firing in a nice shot past Sergio Romero on 27 minutes. Manchester United got back into the second leg with Memphis Depay, impressive this time, forcing an own goal from Nikolay Bodurov, before the profligacy in front of goal started to cause a lot of heartache for the United faithful.
However, after Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera had failed to convert nice chances to go with Juan Mata's missed penalty, Rashford came to the fore, and how. The youngster first was on hand to put the finishing touches to a Mata pass from the left, before doing the same again, this time, after some good work from Guillermo Varela.
With their tails up now, Manchester United would add two more goals, with Herrera smashing home a penalty, before Depay made it 5-1 after Andre Romer had received his marching orders for a second yellow card.
"It was a great performance and I think the fans will have enjoyed our attacking football," Van Gaal told the club's official website. "I believe they crossed the middle line for the first time when they scored.
"Normally you get a decline in confidence, but it was not like that as we scored, but missed a penalty – unbelievable! Still we kept going and going so I must give great compliment to my players because it is not so easy to do that."
