Lampard's Chelsea, shorn of their primary attacking talent following Eden Hazard's move to Real Madrid in the summer, handed starts to academy products Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham and, while both looked lively, the evidence certainly suggests that there will be more than a few dark days in SW6 this season. 

Four defensive lapses resulted in four goals (with Kurt Zouma careless for more than one of them), as the collective ambition for the coming season grew steadily throughout the 90 minutes at Old Trafford and the result against last season's third-placed team would have been the envy of even Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, both of whom were in attendance. 

Of course, it is Ferguson's old friend Solskjaer who picks the team nowadays and he handed debuts to new signings Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

And the pair, assembled at a combined cost of more than $150 million, immediately added an element of assuredness in the back four which has been largely absent in recent years – something that was noted by United fans across the globe on Sunday, given the relative dearth of success the team has suffered since Ferguson's retirement several years ago.