Manchester United produced their most compelling performance of the season to suggest their early troubles are firmly behind them.
And it was the golden wonder pairing of Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford who did the damage to deliver a big win over the dangerous RB Leipzig and take control of their Champions League group.
It was a night when United answered their critics with the ridiculously premature pressure that had built against Old Gunnar Solskjaer in the early season emphatically dismissed.
Greenwood was in the mood for answering some questions too, the teenager writing a small chapter in Manchester United’s glorious European history as he became the Old Trafford club’s second-youngest scorer in this competition behind Wayne Rooney.
The 19-year-old laid the platform for a fine performance and an emphatic result with a crisp first-half finish that gave his side confidence and belief against opponents who reached the semi final of this competition last season.
Yet it was Rashford who stole the show with an 18 minute hat trick as he emerged from the bench to make Leipzig look far from the team who had shown such class in dismissing the likes of Spurs and Atletico Madrid in Europe last season.
It was a stunning performance from the young forward who has had his own critics this season… though only in the form of some boorish right-wing nonsense from aggrieved Tory MPs who dislike his admirable child-poverty campaigning.
Greenwood has come in for some stick with his antics on England duty and suggestions of other discretions, and he has also come in for some bench-warming, though Solskjaer insists the two are not related.
Whatever, he had a point to prove, and he did it spectacularly with his first Champions League goal, and a fine finish it was too on 21 minutes after superb work from Paul Pogba in running from deep to release the young forward.
United were struggling at that point, but the teenager was the difference, and his threat kept their German opponents anchored deep in midfield for most of the evening.
Eventually, Solskjaer sensed blood, and after a bold decision to rest his most influential duo Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, he threw both into the fray as Leipzig tired.
It was an inspired decision at the right moment, and surely answers some questions that have hung over the manager.
Within 11 minutes of coming on, Rashford had his first - a sweetly timed run from the half way line onto an astonishing Fernandes ball, that he tucked into the far corner with laser guided precision.
The linesman had initially flagged, but VAR showed he was in fact in his own half.
Greenwood had profited too from the VAR’s choice to offer the forward a benefit of the doubt - a trend the Premier League could be wise to follow to avoid the nonsense they have created in recent weeks in their poor use of replay technology.
With the game won, United visibly relaxed, and Rashford added an even better second, as he danced with balletic grace with two touches to turn poor Dayot Upamenco inside out (and send him for the paper) before another crisp right-foot finish.
Anthony Martial got in on the act when he too raced through the gaping holes of a red sea style Leipzig defence before being hacked down by a ridiculous challenge from Marcel Sabitzer, and jumped up to convert the penalty himself three minutes from time.
Not to be outdone, Rashford secured his hat-trick deep into stoppage time as he went through the full repertoire to take a delightful touch on the edge of the box and smash his shot through the unfortunate Leipzig keeper Peter Gulacsi.
Solskjaer had the satisfaction of a justified man at the end and no wonder. If they were made to look mugs here, Leipzig are far from that, as their progress to the last four last time around testifies.
Yet with Donny van de Beek getting a first significant start, and United producing the goods even without their two biggest stars for much of the game, they have made an announcement.
Wins over PSG and now the Germans not only gives them a fine position in the group, it issues a notice of intent in Europe.
