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Two moments in Bruno Fernandes' 200th game for Manchester United summed up his importance to Ruben Amorim's team.
The first came seven minutes from the end of United's 2-1 victory against Chelsea at Old Trafford as he nicked the ball off Chelsea captain Reece James, surged 40 yards downfield and drew a full-length save from Filip Jorgensen.
Fernandes reacted by roaring at the Stretford End. "Come on," he bellowed. Three times he shouted.
Then, 10 minutes later, after he had been replaced by Kobbie Mainoo, he sat on the edge of his seat in nervous exhaustion as he willed his team-mates to see the game to its triumphant conclusion.
Fernandes might have put United on the path to victory with his 100th goal for the club but it was those two moments which highlighted just how much the 31-year-old wants United to win.
"He deserves all the praise," said Amorim afterwards.
"The most important thing is the influence he has on the squad. Sometimes he's not in the best position to be the main man in every game, but the point of the captain is to be the best he can be in every situation to help the team to be better. He's doing that.
"I think he can play better - but everyone can play better in our team."
When United signed Fernandes from Sporting for £47m in January 2020, he instantly brought more focus to their attack.
His temperament has been criticised plenty of times since then and often his game discipline too.
Without him though, United would have been in a sorry state.
There were plenty who felt it was time for Fernandes to move on in the summer when he received a huge offer from the Saudi Pro League.
But given their poor judgement in terms of recruitment, it could easily have pitched United into even more strife than they have been in recently.
United have not won successive Premier League games under Amorim - they now have a chance to do so at Brentford next Saturday.
But they have also only won two out of three twice before the present run under the former Sporting coach.
One second-placed Premier League finish, an FA Cup and an EFL Cup is scant reward for Fernandes' abilities and Amorim knows it.
"That guy deserves to be in the history of our club, not just for what he does but for what his team conquers," he said.
Amorim has decided this season hat Fernandes will occupy a deeper midfield role.
In theory, it gets him onto the ball more often and allows him to dictate games. Whether that actually happens is debatable. What definitely happens is Fernandes' weakness in tracking runs and spotting danger is exposed.
He was to blame for Emile Smith Rowe's equaliser for Fulham at Craven Cottage last month and Phil Foden's opener in the Manchester derby.
Being opened up to criticism may be irritating given what he offers defensively. Yet his emotions at the end gave no indication he was falling out of love with United, quite the reverse in fact.
"Obviously I'm very proud of those two massive milestones but it's not something I was aiming for," Fernandes told Match of the Day. "I just aimed to play the next game."
Having spent the summer emphasising the advantages of not having European distractions, this game, against an opponent who had a Champions League engagement in Munich on Wednesday and were reduced to 10 men after five minutes, was one Amorim's side should have won.
Next weekend's trip to Brentford presents another test entirely given the west London outfit will have also benefited from a full week off and have scored four times in two of their past three home games with United, a run through which they are unbeaten.
The return to fitness of Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount is a plus, although Casemiro will be missing as he serves a one-match ban for a dismissal for two yellow card offences which Amorim said made his side's task more "complicated" than it needed to be.
After his memorable pre-match quote that not even the Pope could persuade him to change his tactics, Amorim was asked by one of the more jovial members of the press corps if the Pontiff had been in touch.
He hadn't. But the chances were high that minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe probably would be at some point having watched events unfold from the directors' box.
Amorim joined in the fun: "No but he [Sir Jim] was here.
"I was joking. And you like it guys, so don't complain. You love it that way.
"Let's try to win the next one and I will give you another one."
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