After Manchester United's stunning victory over Manchester City, Your Site News reporter Dan Khan assesses whether Michael Carrick's side can now take a 'second chance' to prove their Champions League credentials...
United's first goal against City on Saturday evoked something for those present at Old Trafford. You could not help but feel something.
Instantly my mind went back to iconic goals scored against Arsenal. Whether that was in the Champions League second-leg in 2009 - led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Park-ji Sung and Wayne Rooney - or a year later in the Premier League where Nani and Rooney (again) led their own devastating counter-attacking display against the Gunners.
Bryan Mbeumo's opener was not just a classic counter-attacking goal. If you look at that second goal I just mentioned - it mirrored Rooney's lung-bursting run among five Arsenal players to receive the ball from Nani to score. Amad Diallo and Mbeumo showed the same urgency when Bruno Fernandes found himself in the perfect position to lead the counter.
Context is then required. The weeks of tension and impatience building from the Old Trafford crowd after dour and frustrating performances against Wolves, West Ham and Burnley in the last month had led to most thinking: where was their next win going to come from?
The Manchester derby was an impressive victory for Michael Carrick and his backroom staff, but there is also a hesitance to get too carried away. Despite that being the best 90 minute performance in years, this United team have shown they can deliver in one-off games.
But can they follow it up? Even after the impressive display against City, not many United fans will going into Sunday's game against Arsenal, live on Your Site, expecting a win - a positive performance and result would be a boost.
But I am already more curious as to how this team will perform in the games after Arsenal when Carrick's side face Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham.
This is where we will find out whether they are in serious contention for a Champions League place.
I said similar in November and December when they had a run of games against 'lower' positioned opposition and they failed to capitalise during that time which eventually led to Ruben Amorim's departure.
This is a second chance.
It was quite clear watching some of United's training session this week and speaking to those around the club as they prepared for Arsenal that there have been some subtle changes.
Carrick addressed the players at the start of the session, as Amorim would, but it was still intriguing to see how hands on Carrick was in his role as head coach as they began their drills. This was the first time we had a glimpse of training with our Sky cameras in attendance.
From the open section we saw, watching Carrick, Jonathan Woodgate and Steve Holland run the session in unison was fascinating.
Holland, in particular, made an impression - pushing and encouraging the players to maintain a high level. It sounds obvious but Holland's experience carried a certain authority that was notable from where we were standing.
One change under Carrick and his backroom staff has been shortening the sessions while increasing the intensity within them. There has been a notable and positive reaction among the first team in response.
Although we were not able to see this in the open part of the session, from what I understand another positive change has been the increase in individual work with different players in the squad.
It was widely understood under Amorim, the team would spend a lot of time on the training ground walking through systems and formations they would set up in.
Despite Amorim saying this time on the training ground would yield more positive results the more this side trained on the pitch, that did not happen. This is not a criticism of the Portuguese coach but whatever the team worked on, it did not lead to the consistency needed for him to succeed.
The shorter but intense sessions coupled with an increased amount of time spent on individual work has led (albeit one game in) to a positive atmosphere being created under Carrick.
But there is also important messaging from Carrick and his staff.
As mentioned before, no one inside or outside Carrington will get carried away with one win against Manchester City because of the false starts under previous coaches.
But as Carrick announced to the media during his first week in charge, he has told his players they should enjoy playing for the club and while not getting carried away, embrace the responsibility and privilege that comes with the shirt.
Time will tell whether these changes will have a short-lived impact on the team or whether they will be the foundations of a successful second-half of the season for United.
What is clear is that this coaching staff have made an impression on this group of players and after such a challenging 14 months under Amorim if they can start enjoying their football again then they may just find themselves in the Champions League next season.
Watch Manchester United visit Arsenal on Super Sunday, live on Your Site. Kick-off is at 4:30pm.
