Manchester United needed another Champions League fightback finished off by Cristiano Ronaldo as they came from two goals down to beat Atalanta 3-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Goals from Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men on course for a fifth defeat in eight games.
However, United’s attacking arsenal blew the Italians away after the break as Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire drew them level before Ronaldo powered home a header nine minutes from time.
Ronaldo also scored a 96th-minute winner against Villarreal in United’s previous Champions League game to mask an otherwise unconvincing performance.
Questions will continue to be asked of Solskjaer’s ability to get the best out of such a richly talented squad.
But a much-needed win to move to the top of Group F eases the mounting pressure on the Norwegian.
Solskjaer responded to Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at Leicester by dropping Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba.
Rashford was handed his first start of the season after shoulder surgery and should have scored after just three minutes when he fired wide when clean through on goal, although the offside flag was later raised against the England international.
United’s major problems, though, have come at the other end as they have now kept one clean sheet in 20 games