Wayne Rooney watched from the Manchester United bench as Paul Pogba inspired a 4-1 dismantling of champions Leicester City in Saturday's Premier League clash at Old Trafford.
The world's most expensive player headed in his first goal for the club after Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford had all found the net in United's first-half rout to help banish thoughts of back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Watford.
Jose Mourinho caused a stir by dropping out-of-sorts captain Rooney to the bench, though he stuck with the same 4-2-3-1 system, with Pogba - who has also faced criticism - excelling in a deeper role alongside Ander Herrera.
Any concerns over a repeat of the turgid performance away to Watford were soon dispelled, as United's pace and power pinned Leicester back before Smalling's header gave them a deserved lead.
The home side showed glimpses of flair play seldom seen under Louis van Gaal or David Moyes, and Mata made it 2-0 when he completed a fine team move on 37 minutes.
A shell-shocked Leicester soon found themselves out of the game, as Rashford and the brilliant
Pogba pounced from two corners in quick succession to give United a first four-goal half-time lead in a home league game since their 6-1 thrashing of Arsenal in February 2001.
Demarai Gray's sensational strike on 59 minutes gave Leicester the slenderest of lifelines, but United held firm to move temporarily to within three points of league leaders City, while the champions now have just seven points from six games.
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