False dawns at Manchester United have come and gone as often as managers have in recent times. We all know the drill.

A United manager heads into a seismic game needing a win like never before. And he pulls a rabbit out of the hat, to change the narrative surrounding his immediate future.

And then boom. A few weeks later all is forgotten - and nothing is forgiven. Back in 2013 David Moyes led United to a 4-1 thumping of Swansea in his first league game after replacing Sir Alex Ferguson.

Two weeks later United lost at Liverpool - and Moyes’s name was becoming mud in Manchester. He would last just 10 months before getting sacked.

Louis Van Gaal won the FA Cup as United manager in 2016. But was sacked 48 hours later, before the trophy had even been placed in the Old Trafford cabinet.

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In this month five years ago, United produced a stunning win at Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League. Afterwards, Ole Gunner Solskjaer stood in the bowels of the Parc des Prince stating his United side had got their mojo back.

United won one of their next three games and Solskjaer was out of the door within a month of that famous night in Paris. Then there was Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman lifted the gloom enveloping him when his United team won the Carabao Cup at Wembley in 2023.

It was the first trophy available to him since he took charge - and United’s first for six years. A week later Ten Hag went from magician to muppet, when United lost 7-0 at Anfield.

The rest, as they say, is history. That humbling on Merseyside makes the result Ruben Amorim left there with last weekend, look like some sort of miracle.

Once again, a United manager has earned himself some breathing space. He’s won a game no-one expected him to. The future could be bright under him after all.

All those who thought he was a clown are the actual fools. Well, perhaps.

But like all those who went before him, time will tell when it comes to Amorim and the relentless debate over if he is the right man to manage United. And let’s not get carried away with one great result.

Because recent tradition doesn’t bode well for the Portuguese. United might be three points closer to avoiding relegation - but the title charge is definitely still not on.

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