When backs were against the wall at Manchester City there was a new leader emerging from the Leeds United pack.
In the absence of Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling, as ever, took the armband from the skipper and stood up to the plate, but he was not alone.
In the second half, as the shots racked up, the crosses rained in and Andre Marriner continued to give free-kicks in a stream of one-way traffic, Kalvin Phillips led the Whites cause.
The 25-year-old homegrown England international ticks every box every United fan could wish for when it comes to an Elland Road captain.
In the years ahead, it seems likely to be Phillips’s destiny to pull on the armband provided player and club continue to match one another's trajectories.
Phillips has not always been seen as an especially vocal presence on the pitch for United, especially with Cooper and Ayling there for conversations with referees.
However, as he matures, grows in experience and confidence at this level, he has all the features needed to be a leader.
He is aggressive, he makes big tackles, he triggers attacks, his play inspires confidence, team-mates know they can trust him with the ball anywhere on the field and they know he has the shoulders to carry the city.
Tests do not come much more acidic than Saturday’s at Etihad Stadium where United were under siege for more than 45 minutes.
Every time a decision went against the visitors or Marriner declined to award a free-kick to Leeds in their own third, it was Phillips getting into his ear and banging the Leeds drum.
It would be unfair on Phillips’s team-mates to say his defensive work was markedly better than anyone else’s because they all contributed to such a disciplined effort around their box.
However, it was the vocal aspects of his play which underlined a burgeoning leadership role.
It is rare for Cooper and Ayling to both miss out on a match, but with Pablo Hernandez expected to move on in the summer, it may well be Phillips is the next man in line for the armband behind the first two.
