THE VERDICT: SWANSEA 0 UNITED 2

ALL eyes were on Victor Lindelof, but it was Jesse Lingard who found welcome redemption in south Wales.

The under-fire United midfielder, like most of his team-mates, had an afternoon to forget against Huddersfield on Saturday despite playing the full 90 minutes.

After a similar performance in last year’s Manchester derby, Lingard bounced back and he did so again at the Liberty Stadium – bringing his imaginary flute along for the ride against Swansea.

A slight tweak in position – as a hardrunning shuttler rather than a classic No.10 – suited him and Lingard relished the shackles being lifted in a free role in United’s bold 3-5-2 formation.

The 24-year-old bounced along, playing with renewed confidence, and finished with remarkable composure to open the scoring before his trademark tribute to Drake.

Well, at least the dab has had its day. For now.

But, in all seriousness, everything seemed to go right for Lingard – even a rare, cute header came off for him for the second goal – and the England international benefited more than most from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial getting a rare start together up front.

With their back to goal, United’s new look front line continually looked to play Lingard, and those eye-catching orange boots, in and also created space for him by pulling Swansea’s defence out of position.

Lingard took full advantage, much to his manager’s pleasure, and even when he had the cheek to drop his water bottle after a rare break in play, Mourinho was happy to oblige.

The Portuguese picked up the red, United-branded bottle from off the touchline and slotted it back into the holder as the crowd merrily sung, ‘We’re onto something good.’ It is just one of the many roles Mourinho has had to take up in managing a new generation of millennials and this was another promising night for United’s academy, with Scott McTominay and Axel Tuanzebe enjoying rare starts. Ciaran Kelly & 59) None Lingard (21 43% 57% 10 13 5 7 Rangel, Sung-yueng, Clucas Tuanzebe, Blind Robert Madley 20,083

Tuanzebe, in particular, caught the eye with a mature performance and his passing and composure on the ball was remarkable given that this was his first start of the season.

But it bodes well for the future as United look to retain the trophy that served as a welcome springboard last season.

Already, United are in the quarterfinals and 66 days on from their best away performance of the season, at the same ground, confidence has been restored. For the moment, at least.

And Lingard, and that cheeky grin, has been at the heart of it.