At half-time in Perth, Cristiano Ronaldo hit "tweet". There he was, shredding his sculpted abdominals in his Manchester United shorts.
Whether it is currying favour with United fans or encouraging speculation with Champions League participants, Ronaldo is remaining relevant whilst an irrelevance to United on the other side of the world.
Timing is everything and Ronaldo's post seemed strategic. Erik ten Hag all but confirmed his attacking quartet against Brighton in a fortnight and they were in telepathic form again as United got it right by working it from right to left.
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Anthony Martial, who passed it to Bruno Fernandes, then onto Marcus Rashford and he played in Luke Shaw on the overlap. Then it was left to right with a prompt cross to Jadon Sancho to cushion in on the volley.
These fluid team moves have been commonplace from Bangkok to Perth via Melbourne. United were denied a back-to-front effort by the woodwork against Liverpool in their opening friendly yet there were two against Crystal Palace and now another. From Melbourne to Perth, United have showed their worth: four games, three wins, one draw and 13 goals.
Such goals hardly happened under the previous regimes and when they did they were usually on the counter. Blinkered purists might argue the mythical United way has returned under Ten Hag when the approach is far more modern and sophisticated. United are playing proactively.
The timing of the winter World Cup is working to their advantage with Sancho and Rashford playing to regain spots in the England squad. Ten Hag has addressed United's lopsided attack by insisting Sancho revert to the right-hand side - where United originally intended to start him - and he was involved in both of the first-half goals against Villa. So was Rashford.
Ten Hag will take a dim view of United's complacency in the second-half. Shaw, lured high up the pitch in Melbourne, dithered again twice, and Fernandes was sloppy. Things barely improved after 10 changes in the 68th minute and the lax Aaron Wan-Bissaka exasperated David de Gea.
United were a header away from a fourth win, Calum Chambers stooping to meet Leon Bailey's corner in added time. De Gea has conceded from two corners in as many games and was culpable for both, this time cowed by the posse of players stomping around his six-yard area as he remained rooted to his line; a weakness teams have preyed on before.
Developing an incumbent player to occupy the role reserved for Frenkie de Jong appears ominous. At a time when United are going Dutch, Donny van de Beek is still out of touch.
The absence of Scott McTominay provided Ten Hag a chance to showcase his tactical flexibility as United transitioned from a 4-2-3-1 in their previous matches to 4-3-3, with Van de Beek and Fernandes ahead of Fred.
Van de Beek, starting for United for the first time since December, had licence to forage forward and in the opening minutes was level with the six-yard area. Fred, the designated "connector", was at the base of midfield once more and sparked the attack that led to Matty Cash's own goal.
Should De Jong avoid extradition to Manchester then Van de Beek would be a possible foil for Fred, only the Dutchman resembled an opera-goer who had turned up at Glastonbury in the muddy conditions. He was the weakest starter, meek on the ball and bypassed repeatedly during United's swift transitions.
Even from the lofty vantage point of the press box, high in the second tier, Ten Hag could be heard yelling "Donny" repeatedly. Van de Beek has not started a meaningful Premier League match since December 2020 when he was hooked after 45 forlorn minutes at West Ham with United trailing. Bar a breakthrough on De Jong, McTominay is destined to be reunited with Fred against Brighton.
The announcement of Harry Maguire's name again elicited some boos, drowned out by cheers. Some at United actually attempted to suggest the booing of Maguire from Melbourne to Perth is symptomatic of the sledging culture in Australia, as if Maguire irks Aussies as much as Stuart Broad. Maguire, undeterred, performed authoritatively again and prevented an equaliser with a block on the line. Come the 80th minute, the only booing was for Villa manager Steven Gerrard when he played the ball.
The relentless downpours in Perth left the pitch more suitable for rugby than football, with the match commissioner so concerned about its possible cancellation he suggested a helicopter be used to dry the sodden areas.
Both teams' shirts were so muddied they looked as though they were playing in another decade. The United technical director Darren Fletcher did reconnaissance to identify the problematic patches and it was Villa who looked the patched-up side.
United played tidily on the boggy surface, their fluidity for Sancho's strike all the more laudable for it. They were only able to maintain that for a limited period and the best result they could hope for is to have come through the 90 minutes with everyone still fit.
Ronaldo certainly looks fit.
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