On Friday night, Shola Shoretire gave Manchester United's U23s the motivation they deserved.
The new crop of United students, who had gone winless in their previous four games, got off to a poor start against Chelsea, which was surprising given the abundance of young talent on show at Leigh Sports Village.
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Neil Wood kicked off the game with Brandon Williams, Anthony Elanga, Shola Shoretire, and Amad, among others, but that didn't stop the visitors from taking the lead and putting the hosts under pressure with their high press.
Chelsea would score first after a bright start, and United looked uneasy until the Blues' shot-stopper Lucas Bergstrom was sent off for intentionally handling the ball outside the field.
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Unsurprisingly, the game's complexion shifted, though although United gained faith in possession, they refused to pass the ball with intent and struggled to break down Chelsea's tenacious makeshift backline.
However, when United required a moment of brilliance, 17-year-old Shoretire dutifully responded.
Shoretire latched on to Charlie McCann's cross just before halftime, his sublime first touch enough to fashion space under resistance from four Chelsea defenders - Shoretire then fired home, and he didn't take long to double his count.
Shoretire, United's youngest player in European competition, was otherwise quiet in the game, but he presented his squad with two moments of individual genius, close to Bruno Fernandes' exploits for the first team.
Fernandes sometimes goes unnoticed in tournaments, but he steps up when it counts the most, as high-quality players can often make their mark, and the same can be said about Shoretire's success tonight - United's new thrilling pupil.
Shoretire shares Fernandes' winning attitude, expressing his disappointment after the game that he was deprived his hat-trick when suffering a knock that ruled him out of eligibility to take Hannibal's missing penalty.
"I just wanted to focus on the touches [for his goals] and if you get the contact right, the shot comes naturally."
For the second one, I was done with one-on-one as soon as I got the touch right "Shoretire said.
"I was disappointed [not to get the hat-trick], but that's football.
It feels great to win after losing so badly to Chelsea the last time.“
The fact that Amad didn't take center stage speaks volumes about Shoretire's results, despite the fact that the £19m former Atalanta man showed flashes of quality with tricky wandering runs and a free-kick from 25 yards.
Mark Helm, who seems to be regularly outstanding for United's U23s, then scored the fourth penalty, and Chelsea scored a late consolation goal after previously checking Nathan Bishop on the counter-attack.
Although United certainly suffered from Chelsea's early red card, it was a promising showing and a move in the right direction.
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