Martial’s jinking high-wire solo effort ultimately emerged triumphant, but the real story of the evening was the 25-minute period before half-time, when all three young forwards began a kind of harmonic blitzkrieg on the Serbian goal.
It was the first time the trio had started a match together. The first time they'd all scored in the same match. And, despite the ease with which Partizan were overcome, it was difficult not to wonder, internally, whether this embryonic partnership might represent the first glimpse of the shape of United to come during the next few years.
How significant could this triple-threat combination be?