Erik ten Hag's greatest change at Manchester United has been that he hasn't been afraid to make changes himself. It was apparent once again in their incredible comeback win over Barcelona last night.
United had started the game well and seemed to be doing exactly what Ten Hag wanted with an intense pressing approach; they should have been ahead early on when Bruno Fernandes raced through on goal.
His side continued to press forward and unsettle their opponents, but then things started to unravel. Free-kick calls went against both Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw on the edge of the Barcelona box and soon referee Clement Turpin was pointing to the spot after a careless foul from Fernandes in the box.
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It was certainly a harsh call, but they had given the referee a decision to make, and it was never going to be overturned. United needed to rally but instead regressed and were guilty of letting frustrations get the better of them for the rest of the half.
Yet, once again, Ten Hag would make a huge change at half-time, just as he did at the weekend. Jadon Sancho changed the game from the bench against Leicester, and this time it was Antony who did that when he replaced Wout Weghorst.
The half-time substitute sparked United into life and upset the rhythm Barcelona had established in the game, with a fresh spring in their step United pressed from the off again and would get their reward.
Sancho pressed hard to win the ball back, Fernandes collected it and played it through to Fred, who ran into the space opened up by Antony's presence on the right wing, before he took a touch and fired into the bottom right corner.
It was another managerial masterstroke from Ten Hag as he identified a problem in the first-half and didn't hesitate to address it when he got a chance.
The Brazilian winger has yet to put in a complete performance since arriving in Manchester, but he didn't have to on Thursday, with the task of playing one electric half of football.
Antony played with the bit between his teeth from the second he came onto the pitch and was clearly not lacking in confidence as he tried a speculative shot from outside the box in an effort to get his side back into the game.
He offered a more direct focal point compared with Weghorst in attack, and also helped to bring balance to the forward line with his creativity and craft.
The wayward shot might not have filled those in the crowd with confidence as the ducked for cover, but it proved to only be a tester as the 23-year-old fine-tuned his finishing for the next that came his way.
Luke Shaw showed brilliant awareness to keep the ball in play with a smart back heel to Fernandes and the United attackers crowded on the Barcelona box like moths to a flame.
Alejandro Garnacho, another bright introduction from the bench, saw his effort blocked before Fred did too. But it would be third time lucky when Antony sweetly struck a low effort that only just went under the arm of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barcelona were rattled, and as they pushed forward frantically in search of another goal, they left more space for United's substitute wingers to wreak havoc.
Garnacho stretched the La Liga defence when he raced down the left wing and played a brilliant one-two with Fred, but the low cross just evaded the onrushing Marcus Rashford.
A minute later and Barcelona were harassed in possession again. This time they were forced back into their own half and almost punished when Antony slide in to win the ball back and Rashford drilled an effort into the side-netting.
Xavi's side were growing in frustration, and United knew exactly how to exploit it. Garnacho got possession in his own half and showed maturity by slowing the ball down before bursting past two opposition with a rapid change of pace. Sergio Busquets had to resort to a vicious tactical foul to bring him down, and United had more time to kill the game.
It would prove to be precious as United held on, frustrating their opponents at every opportunity and embracing the dark arts, just as the Catalan side had done in the first-half.
Ten Hag might not have got things spot on from the start, but he had by the end.
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