As the Manchester United players who had been told they were not fit to wear the shirt, in perhaps the earliest ever airing of that chant in footballing history, celebrated a second ridiculous comeback in five days, the Stretford End launched into a different chorus.

They had told the team they were unworthy of representing them after a mere five minutes, had cheered in damning fashion when the dreadful Diogo Dalot was substituted, had been vitriolic about the Glazer family, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Jason Wilcox. But United left the pitch in the relegation zone while their supporters serenaded Michael Carrick .

“It’s hard to believe it’s not Scholes,” they sang. In one respect, it was hard to believe it was not Sir Alex Ferguson , plucking results from nowhere. In another, it was hard to believe this was not the prelude to a sacking.

Patrick Dorgu popped up to score an extraordinary stoppage-time equaliser (Reuters)

It may still be.…