The players returned out early, waiting for Rafa Benitez’s men. The lad next to me said he was tempted to get off if things didn’t improve.

They did, if only in the crowd, initially. Led by the fans in J Stand – who are working hard to improve the atmosphere – and a boisterous Stretford End, the volume went up. United were throwing caution to the wind, and as the attacks grew in regularity – buoyed by the encouragement of the crowd – pressure built.

Ashley Young crunched into a tackle on the flank. People were out of their seats, whooping and hollering. The lad in front of me, whose mission in life seems to be honing himself into a clone of Liam Gallagher circa 1995, broke out into a smile.

Determination, pride, pace and a commitment to attack is all United fans demand, and we were getting it.

Juan Mata – while possibly the smallest man on the field – embodied it. The Spaniard won’t mind me saying it, but he’s not Roy Keane or Bryan Robson. But he still charged around that field, with all the aggression he could muster, using his intelligence and guile to stretch and twist Newcastle.

His laser-guided free-kick halved the deficit. Twenty minutes to go. ‘Jose Mourinho’s red-and-white army’ boomed across the stadium.