The script really couldn't have been written any better for the prodigal son's return.
Two goals, a screamer from his Portuguese pal and a late one from Jesse Lingard sent the Old Trafford crowd in ecstasy, Sir Alex Ferguson nodding in approval and the club's executives rubbing their hands at the ringing of the cash tills.
The United media channels had milked every bit of content in the build-up to Cristiano Ronaldo's second coming - his arrival in the UK, his first training session at Carrington, his chat with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - it was all carefully stage-managed and packaged glossily to their global fan-base.