The last time Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were on the scoresheet in the same game before Thursday night Manchester United ended up hitting nine, thrashing a bedraggled Southampton at an empty Old Trafford in February 2021.
Since then it's United who have tended to be on the wrong end of hidings, a trait that hasn't yet been extinguished by Erik ten Hag, who in his first 10 games in charge has overseen a 4-0 defeat at Brentford and a 6-3 loss at Manchester City.
Ten Hag has won six and lost four of his matches so far and his record offers encouragement rather than a cast-iron guarantee of success. But if there's an area where his impact is being felt it is on the training ground.
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United knew they were appointing a hands-on manager when it came to the nitty gritty at Carrington, in contrast to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. Ten Hag has a track record of improving players and Rashford and Martial have probably been the biggest beneficiaries at Old Trafford.
There was a time when their partnership looked like being the future for United. They scored in the same game six times during lockdown football but the failure to then transport that form when crowds returned summed up the team.
Having finished second in a season played in empty stadiums, United regressed drastically when the crowds returned. By this summer Martial's United career looked all but done and Rashford was questioning his own future.
Martial's loan to Sevilla in the second half of last season went so poorly there wasn't really a market for him in the summer window. Rashford's form had fallen off a cliff to such a dramatic extent that he has been exiled by England and was jeered by United supporters at one stage last term.
But two months after the first ball was kicked this season Rashford is United's top scorer with five goals and was September's player of the month in the Premier League. Martial is tied with Jadon Sancho on three goals but they've come in just 107 minutes of football.
The Frenchman's late double at the Etihad on Sunday was a sideshow to the scoreline, but the nature with which he stuck his penalty right into the top corner hinted at a player in a confident mood. He backed that up with an emphatic strike against Omonia Nicosia on Thursday.
Rashford and Martial came off the bench to save United from embarrassment in Cyprus and while the strength in depth is pleasing, they won't find themselves in reserve too often this season.
If you were asked to pick United's best front three after Ten Hag was appointed in April, Rashford and Martial would have been way down the list, especially if you'd been told the club would spend £85.5million on another winger in the summer.
But now Rashford and Martial look undroppable. The former has to take Sancho's place on the left and, as incredible as it sounds to say, Martial is a better option than Cristiano Ronaldo at No. 9. A front three of Rashford, Martial and Antony would be ideal at Goodison Park this weekend.
The way Ten Hag has transformed the careers of two players who were low on confidence and the subject of intense criticism last season speaks volumes for his man management and, most crucially of all, his ability to develop players.
His intense approach on the training ground and his eye for detail with players has given Rashford and Martial clear instructions. They know their jobs under the Dutchman and they've got the freedom to perform.
United's players were enthused by Ten Hag's coaching credentials when he was appointed and while there are issues to iron out generally under the 52-year-old, his ability to coax improvement out of players has already been on show.
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