Newcastle United welcomed Manchester United with uncertainty in the air at St James' Park on Sunday, as they took on the challenge without the man who sets their tone and standards.
Head coach Eddie Howe, ranked at no.26 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League managers ever, missed his pre-match press conference on Friday through illness, and news of his admission to hospital the night before the game shocked everyone.
Jason Tindall, Howe's assistant, led from the front. The performance was at times unconvincing, at others rampant, but Newcastle ran out 4-1 winners to climb into the Premier League's top four.
Newcastle's climb continues
Victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, their game in hand on direct rivals, will put them third.
Watching from afar, Howe needn't have worried. Sandro Tonali's wonderful opener, a Harvey Barnes double and Bruno Guimaraes' cherry on top marked an emphatic display, particularly in the second half.
The first half was frustrating, with Alejandro Garnacho ensuring it ended level. But when Newcastle pulled away, Barnes and Tino Livramento, their makeshift left-hand partnership, were heavily involved.
Thrust together in a moment of need, after Anthony Gordon's red card in the FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Brighton on March 2 and a season-ending foot injury to Lewis Hall days earlier, their influence has grown.
Losing two key players in the build-up to the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool was feared fatal by Newcastle fans; pessimism was at an all-time high.
They've won every game since, and both players have been crucial.
Barnes has been a cause for debate in his time at Newcastle, and not always in a positive sense.
He is perhaps the only big-money signing made by the Saudi Arabian-backed ownership who has not been a resounding success.
While his output cannot be questioned, with 19 goal contributions in 47 league games, many as a substitute, his overall play has been criticised by some, especially in the context of his battle with Gordon for the starting berth on the left.
Gordon leads with his energy and work rate in both directions, and the stats follow.
He embodies Howe's moto: "Intensity is our identity", more than most. Barnes, as strange as it may seem, has often left fans asking for more than goals.
Yet the former Leicester City man has become a 'system player' over recent weeks, without losing his scoring instinct.
His second of the day summed up his development perfectly; after hunting down a slipping Noussair Mazraoui, he bulldozed through the heart of Manchester United's defence and slammed home.
Gordon was back on the Newcastle bench, and may be there for some time; Howe has a difficult choice to make when he returns to the dugout, perhaps for the first time.
Barnes has been backed up by Livramento at left-back, and their burgeoning relationship has been one of the standout features of Newcastle's renewed Champions League push.
Kieran Trippier's return to his best at right-back since the 22-year-old switched across has been timely, too.
In the first half, Manchester United clearly targeted Livramento. Garnacho and Diogo Dalot consistently doubled up on him, and it was no coincidence that the visitors' equalising goal came from their link-up.
Parity at half time was probably fair on the visitors despite that goal coming in Newcastle's best spell of the match, having taken the lead through Tonali.
But the hosts had new gears to find, and that ultimately proved the difference in what ended a rather comprehensive victory.
Livramento embodied that more than most; after the break, he broke free of his shackles to cross perfectly for Barnes to score his first, via Jacob Murphy's clever cut back.
From that moment, the gulf in class became clear; Manchester United's resistance cracked and Newcastle became too difficult to live with. Suddenly, Livramento was the one causing headaches.
Moments before that lead was restored, Tonali was involved in what could be seen as the turning point in the match.
Joshua Zirkzee, a thorn in Newcastle's side before the break, broke free of the defence and hurtled towards goal unchecked, before the Italian swallowed up ground to make a perfectly-timed intervention in the area.
If Ruben Amorim's side had completed their turnaround early in the second half, the result may have been very different.
Ultimately, though, this was a tale of two clubs heading in opposite directions. Newcastle supporters detest the fact that the word 'United' is so intrinsically linked with their opponents.
On the basis of Sunday's result, however, only one team is a true representation of the word, and they don't wear red.
Without Gordon and Hall, ending their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy and pushing on in the Champions League felt unlikely.
But here Newcastle sit, destiny in their own hands, looking more likely by the game to make their dream end to the campaign a reality.
Barnes and Livramento, once paired in desperation, have stepped up when it matters most.
