Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue of beleaguered Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Saturday as the visitors thumped Tottenham 3-0 to restore pride after their humiliation by Liverpool.
United arrived in London smarting from their 5-0 home defeat by their fiercest rivals last week, which led to a storm of speculation over the future of the Norwegian boss.
But a sublime first-half strike by Ronaldo, a clever finish from Edinson Cavani and a late Marcus Rashford goal lifted the visitors to fifth in the table, just three points behind third-placed Manchester City.
Solskjaer paired veteran forwards Ronaldo and Cavani up front for the first time, with Mason Greenwood and Rashford missing out.
He also opted for a central back three, bringing in the returning Raphael Varane alongside Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.
The game took time to catch fire in front of a crowd of more than 60,000, with clear-cut openings at a premium.
Son Heung-min fired over from close range for Spurs after Lucas Moura found him on the left with a dinked ball and moments later Cavani headed wide from a Bruno Fernandes cross.
Tottenham had the ball in the net just before the half-hour mark but Cristian Romero's effort was ruled out for offside, with the flag raised when Spurs players were already celebrating.
United midfielder Fred hit a stinging drive that was well kept out by a diving Hugo Lloris and as the game opened up Aaron Wan-Bissaka produced a superbly timed tackle to deny Son, who was through on goal.
But it was United who broke the deadlock in the 39th minute.