Manchester United won 4-0 against Feyenoord on Thursday night. Wayne Rooney broke the club's all-time European goal record, Jesse Lingard scored a sublime goal, Juan Mata got on the scoresheet once more, Paul Pogba was dominant, whileSergio Romero made a fine double save when the game was still evenly balanced.
But there was only onestar of the show, and it wasHenrikh Mkhitaryan.
Only the Armenian's second start in a United shirt, Mkhitaryan showed the class , ability and general quality that prompted the club to spend £26m on prising him away from Borussia Dortmund in July.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan's game by numbers vs. Feyenoord:
100% take-ons
85% pass accuracy
6 shots
3 chances created
2 aerial duels won
Involved. pic.twitter.com/l7MQ6MsMpc
The 27-year-old was named last season's Players' Player of the Year in the Bundesliga and there's now every reason to believe that he can go on to achieve similar great things in England.
Mkhitaryan was at the heart of United's best play as they swept aside Feyenoord to get their Europa League hopes back on track. He took up good positions all over the attacking third, created opportunities for team-mates, had one or two chances of his own, and showed a level of deceptive pace that will certainly be an asset in the Premier League.
One brilliant run in particular hadUnited fans on social media falling over themselves.
The only thing that would have made it a perfect night was a goal of his own - had Feyenoord goalkeeper Brad Jones not intervened and turned the ball into his own net for United's third of the night there's a chance that Mkhitaryan would have had it.
It has been a long time coming for 'Micki'. His United career looked in tatters when it had barely begun after a very poor showing against Manchester City in September, combined with an injury, kept him out of the team. For weeks he wasn't even named on the bench as he struggled to convince Jose Mourinho that, while no longer 'injured', he was fit enough to contribute.
Fans could have been forgiven for drawing early comparisons with Shinji Kagawa, a player whose innate ability was never in doubt after he joined United from Dortmund in 2012, but one who failed to cope with the physical demands and was left to soon return to Germany.
"It was important for his confidence and he will try to keep adapting and trying to replicate this kind of quality performance in the Premier League which is a competition with different challenges," Mourinho said of his performance against Feyenoord.
I was delighted to play tonight in front of our incredible fans! Super happy for the win! ⚽���@ManUtd #UEL pic.twitter.com/rZxkBLKDPR
Thursday night's game was almost like a clean slate. Forget the difficulties and thehardship of the last four months, Mkhitaryan's United career begins here. The quality is obviously there, the rest is ready to fall into place as long as he can maintain his fitness.
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