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It is a long time since Mason Mount completed a full 90 minutes in the Premier League.
So long, in fact, he was facing Crystal Palace as a Chelsea player in January 2023.
But that has nothing to do with Mount's ability.
Such is Ruben Amorim's faith in the 26-year-old he was talking up Mount's qualities earlier this year even though the England international had been ruled out until April with a muscle issue.
Explaining his decision before kick-off to recall him for the Premier League trip to Selhurst Park, Amorim reinforced that support.
"Mason Mount is really smart," he said. "He gives us more possession. He is intense and he can score goals, so is one more player to be near the box."
The remark showed incredible foresight as Mount sealed United's first victory at Palace since 2020 by drilling home what seemed to be a pre-planned free-kick move with skipper Bruno Fernandes from 20 yards.
It came nine minutes after Joshua Zirkzee's first league goal in a year had cancelled out Jean-Philippe Mateta's penalty opener.
"Mason is a great player," Fernandes told BBC's Match of the Day.
"His quality was never in doubt with his team-mates. Sometimes he struggled a bit for goals and assists and also with injuries, but when he gets his fitness, he is important."
Prior to this season, injuries have prevented Mount from building the momentum that persuaded United to pay Chelsea £55m for him in June 2023.
This term that has changed. So far, he has only been unavailable for one of United's 13 league games - and been involved in all but three.
However, throughout his time at United, only once in the Premier League had Mount been involved for more than the 80 minutes he spent on the pitch during the 4-0 crushing by Palace at Selhurst Park in May 2024.
This season, his longest involvement was 69 minutes at Fulham on 24 August.
"I'm feeling good," Mount told TNT.
"The win was massive but also, for me, to play the full game. I haven't done that in a while.
"I have been feeling really good recently, enjoying my football. When you have days like this in front of the fans it makes it all worth it."
During the summer, Mount revealed he had spoken to England boss Thomas Tuchel, a legacy of the pair winning the Champions League together with Chelsea in 2021, and hasn't abandoned hope of making his World Cup squad.
Operating in one of Amorim's favoured number 10 roles in the absence of injured pair Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, Mount finds space, using the game 'smartness' Amorim talks about. His clean striking of the ball is a very valuable asset too.
Mount was helped by the general tiredness of Palace, something manager Oliver Glasner criticised the club for not dealing with when it came to recruiting his squad last summer.
It was also something Amorim noticed just before half-time, which fuelled his belief a comeback was possible, even though successfully coming from behind to win in the league had happened just once previously during the former Sporting coach's 12-month tenure.
"I felt it because, if you see the last plays of the game [in the first half], they were struggling so much to take the ball out of the box. You can feel it the way they move," added the United boss.
"They were getting tired and we talked about that. We increased our pace and intensity and I had the feeling that if we score one goal, it is going to change completely."
A dip in Palace's intensity - given their busy schedule paired with Ismaila Sarr's 38th-minute injury - largely helped explain why they looked less dangerous in the second half against United.
Amorim's men, however, deserve credit for their improvements after the break.
Zirkzee struggled to make the ball stick in the opening period under intense pressure from Maxence Lacroix, but looked sharper in the second half. He made numerous runs into the left flank, finding separation from his marker and, with smart touches, brought team-mates into play.
This appeared intentional with 47% of all of United's attacking moves in the second half going down their left.
On the left flank, Mount and Diogo Dalot rotated smartly. Mount's movements into the wide areas forced Daniel Muñoz to follow him at times which allowed Dalot to receive the ball in space.
Palace centre-back Chris Richards left his position attempting to reduce the time Dalot had on the ball, but this was more of an awkward defensive task than marking Mount, which was primarily his role in the first half.
Zirkzee's increased involvement down the left was also paired with Bryan Mbeumo moving centrally from his right-forward position. This centre-forward position allowed him to hold the ball up and win fouls more reliably than Zirkzee did in the first half against direct pressure.
In the build-up to their first goal, Mbeumo won a free-kick in his own half, utilising his body well, which allowed United to regain possession.
When play restarted, United won another free-kick - the set-play Zirkzee finished well from the left side of the box.
For United's second set-piece goal, the initial foul was won after Zirkzee moved towards the left touchline and flicked the ball on cleverly for Dalot who had moved in-field before being fouled.
As much as these changes provided United with the platform to get on the ball, attack more dangerously and win fouls high up the pitch, Amorim attributed much of the success post-match to the gap in intensity between the two sides too.
