Marcus Rashford served notice that Manchester United are back with a dramatic late winner that sent Old Trafford into the kind of frenzy not seen for a while in this part of town.
Rashford steered home a late close-range finish to floor bitter rivals Manchester City as Erik ten Hag's side scored twice in four minutes to leave the champions beaten. The born-and-bred Mancunian striker has now scored eight times against City - and local bragging rights now belong to the Reds.
But the character United demonstrated to hit back after Jack Grealish had headed the visitors into the lead suggests that this victory in the 187th Manchester derby won’t be just another false dawn. The Red Devils are just a point behind City and six points off Premier League pacesetters Arsenal.
But Pep Guardiola headed back into town mystified why referee Stuart Attwell allowed Bruno Fernnades’ 78th-minute equaliser to stand when Rashford had been flagged offside and was allegedly interfering with play. Rashford suspected he was beyond the last defender when he burst clear onto Casemiro’s pass.
But after moving towards the ball, he then stepped aside to allow Fernandes to caress home an equaliser that turned the contest on its head. Assistant referee Darren Cann raised his flag to signal an offence had occurred - but the goal stood after a discussion between the officials.
“Rashford was offside and he was distracting our players,” said Guardiola. “Maybe I don’t know what the rule is, but I know where we are playing. In this stadium, with this referee, it can happen.
“When we conceded the equaliser, it was important we didn’t concede another goal so soon. That is something we have to improve. The referee decided not to intervene. Are we going to make a complaint? No. This is Old Trafford. It’s like Anfield. You have to play better.”
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It seemed City had got to grips with a tactical plan from Ten Hag that had strangled the game as a spectacle in the first half when Grealish came off the bench to bury Kevin De Bruyne’s far-post cross on the hour.
It was about the only time De Bruyne had shook off the attentions of Fred. Luke Shaw kept Erling Haaland under control, Aaron Wan-Bissaka hounded Phil Foden until he was replaced by Grealish and even Christian Eriksen and Fernandes were willing to do the dirty work.
Ten Hag said: “One of the main jobs for me is to work on the mentality of the team. One of the elements of that is resilience and this team is progressing a lot in learning to deal with set-backs and suffering and painful moments.
“You have to keep going when you go a goal down but we now have players who have experience of knowing how quickly games can change. We are much better prepared to deal with setbacks than we were a few months ago.”
Rashford was unable to convert the two best chances of the first 45 minutes, being thwarted by Manuel Akanji’s goal-line clearance and Ederson’s brave save. His afternoon appeared to be over when he pulled up holding his groin at the end of the first half.
But Ten Hag added: “Marcus is unstoppable and opponents will get tough with him to try to stop him. But he knows how to deal with it. He knows that in football, you have to take the pain and sacrifice.”
When City started to find their rhythm after the break, it seemed inevitable they would keep their title challenge on course with three points when Grealish headed home. But when Fernandes dragged United level, it exposed City’s glass jaw.
And when Rashford swooped to poke home Alejandro Garnacho’s cross in front of the Stretford End, even Sir Alex Ferguson joined in the celebrations in the posh seats.
