A look of vindication crossed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s face when it was suggested to him that his side who beat Manchester City 2-1 finally looked like “a proper Man United team” in action. But the manager knows better than most that it will take a lot more than two pulsating performances for such a label to carry any real weight or meaning.

The significance of back-to-back victories over City and Tottenham Hotspur should not be underestimated given the pressure Solskjaer would have come under had both ended in defeat but, in many respects, it is the next few weeks that will tell us where his United side really are.

A pattern has developed this term, making it clear that United are far better suited to playing on the counter against sides who want the ball rather than those who defend deep and ask opponents to try to break them down.

Games against Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, Spurs and now City have yielded an impressive 13 points, despite an average possession count of just 39 per cent. By contrast, United enjoyed an average of almost 62 per cent during defeats by Crystal Palace, West Ham, Newcastle and Bournemouth, and the draws against Sheffield United and Aston Villa, when their opponents let them have the ball and watched Solskjaer’s men tie themselves in knots.