It transpired that comebacks were not confined to one United. Just when the new Manchester United seemed to have emulated the old one, Sheffield United had the final say in an astonishingly topsy-turvy game they probably deserved to win, but almost lost.
The substitute Oli McBurnie’s 90th-minute goal, permitted following an anxious wait for VAR to determine if he had handled, rescued a point. It was the least they deserved.
For Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was a day that lent itself to many a conclusion, both pleasant and unpleasant. The man who completed United’s most famous comeback in the 1999 Champions League final, saw his young generation come from 2-0 down to 3-2 up in the space of seven surreal minutes.
It says something that Marcus Rashford, scorer of their third goal, was also the oldest of the catalysts. He is just 22, as is Daniel James, who set up two goals. Yet they are veterans compared to Brandon Williams and Mason Greenwood, teenagers born in the 21st century who each scored their maiden league goals and, in the left-back’s case, his first in senior football.
It amounted to a swift treble that few, if they are being honest, can say they saw coming.
The Sheffield United fans had chorused “there’s only one United” and, for large parts of the game, they were right; it was the team in red and white, 10 of whom had played for the Blades in the lower leagues and who had arrived at a combined cost of around £15 million (Dh70.7m).
Manchester United were lacklustre, lacking their namesakes’ energy, movement and, seemingly, motivation.
Yet Solskjaer merits credit for helping transform the game. He switched shape at half-time, hooking the hapless Phil Jones for Jesse Lingard. He brought on the predatory Greenwood, who struck four minutes after his introduction.
His side missed the chance to go fifth but the taunts of "sacked in the morning" disappeared when, for the third game in a row, his team scored three times.
Given Mauricio Pochettino’s sudden availability, this looked a particularly bad time to turn in a wretched performance. Solskjaer’s team contrived to be first awful, briefly brilliant and finally frail.
Sheffield United were first terrific, then rocked and eventually buoyed by their resolve. They have still not taken three points against Manchester United since the Premier League’s first weekend in 1992 but they remain the division’s top United.
They began superbly. David de Gea was required to excel to preserve parity for as long as he did. The Spaniard conjured a brilliant double save in the space of three seconds, first plunging to his right to repel John Lundstram’s low volley and then diving to his left to parry David McGoldrick’s close-range header. The striker’s wait for a maiden Premier League goal continues but his team-mates looked like compensating.
There was an old-fashioned physicality to the contest, summed up the deadlock was broken. Lys Mousset outmuscled Jones to set up Lundstram. While De Gea parried his shot, John Fleck bundled the rebound in.
It made for an uncomfortable return to the side for Jones, given a first league game of the season as Solskjaer, shorn of Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic, sought to compensate for the lack of midfielders by selecting an extra centre-back. If the rationale was understandable, the policy backfired and Jones was removed at half-time as a back five was abandoned.
It brought a counter-attacking threat in the next few minutes, only for Sheffield United to conjure an incisive break. Fleck released Mousset to sprint forward and bend a shot past De Gea. Perhaps the irrepressible striker’s departure was a turning point as he limped off a few minutes before the Manchester United comeback commenced.
James started it. His cross flicked off a defender’s head for Williams to slot in a half-volley. Then Greenwood emerged unchecked to finish from Rashford’s cross. Next, after James burst clear on the left, Rashford scored his 10th goal in 11 games for club and country.
But Chris Wilder’s replacements proved similarly capable of turning the game on its head as Greenwood. One substitute, Callum Robinson, crossed for another, McBurnie. The ball came off the Scotland striker’s chest, though there was a suspicion of handball, before he poked in his shot.
