Considering Jose Mourinho appeared to be engaging in a policy of calculated moroseness during pre-season, his first team sheet of the season was decorated in olive branches.
Awarding the captaincy to Paul Pogba was a demand for responsibility, an order for the captivating midfielder to merge finesse with the discipline of the France jersey rather than a laissez-faire approach in United's.
Pogba has been United's captain before, but this felt different - a symbolic gesture after another peculiar week in the Mourinho era.
A few days ago it seemed Pogba's agent wanted to engineer the player's exit. Mourinho's elevation of the 25-year-old suggests no one was more resistant to Pogba moving to Barcelona than the United manager.
It needed just three minutes of the Premier League season to hint at the powers of maturity a captain's armband brings. Pogba started like the World Cup winner he is.
Whether this was the confidence discovered in Russia or the natural footballing arrogance that inspires him to ask for a "short back and stars" at the barber is a matter for debate, but the United crowd were with him as much when he perfectly timed tackles to stop counterattacks as gliding through midfield.
TIPTOE TO THE PENALTY
Within 45 seconds, Pogba was parading the skills that thrill - an exquisite crossfield pass to Matteo Darmian.When Leicester City's Daniel Amartey inexplicably handled in Friday night's opening league match, incurring the penalty, Pogba insisted he be given the ball. He did not so much run up to the spot as tiptoe before finding the top corner past Kasper Schmeichel.
Like so much of United's play, the problem with Pogba - which is surely not entirely of his making - is you watch while feeling it can be a class higher. The good stuff is spectacularly promising. At those moments, you understand the hype is justified.
He had the capacity to run this game at a whim, especially with Andreas Pereira and Fred offering midfield protection.
Yet it's never clear if Mourinho is trying to unleash or restrain him.
COUNTERATTACKING APPROACH
The momentum of Pogba's opening goal - and his early majesty - was a platform to terrorise Leicester, who eventually succumbed 2-1. There was an instant opportunity to feed off a vibrant crowd who had lustily welcomed Pogba's introduction as captain and were buoyed by those early moments.
Instead, immediately after scoring, the counterattacking approach kicked in. Leicester were invited to play.
Mourinho can argue this is not so different in philosophy to Didier Deschamps's France. They won the World Cup with an approach more Mourinho than Pep Guardiola. They still seemed more proactive than United opt to be.
Towards the end of last season, United fans and Mourinho seemed to be tiring of the fact that every fixture was dominated by the Pogba conversation.
United's success this season will again be defined by the relationship between the midfielder and his manager...