The shell-shocked look on Gordon Strachan's face suggested normal service had been resumed by the champions but those bookies who offered odds of 10-1 against Manchester United retaining their title just a fortnight ago will not be enduring sleepless nights yet.
The eulogies at their demise may be premature but so are the acclamations of their return. A third successive victory will send shivers down the spines of the title pretenders but there were still as many spills to go with the thrills on Saturday. At times the home side's defence was as indefensible as ever. Better sides than Southampton would have found reward; as it was, against off-colour opponents, the Reds' shortcomings hardly mattered.
Strachan would have been pained to admit as much. "You could see a few of their lads looking at each other and thinking, 'This is it, we're back,'" said the visiting manager, suppressing a shudder as he recalled how his team had been swamped by Ruud van Nistelrooy's first United hat-trick.
"We kept plugging away and creating chances but they were too good for us. They had a lighter step and a sparkle in their eyes again."
"The visitors shared parity for 30 seconds before Paul Scholes' 50-yard pass was gathered by Van Nistelrooy who dispatched his shot in off a post. His second was scrappier, poked home after pin-ball in the area, but Van Nistelrooy was awesome throughout.
The Dutchman's impact since joining in the summer may have been overshadowed by his team-mates' deficiencies at the other end but he looks worth every penny of the £18.5m sterling paid to PSV Eindhoven. The 25-year-old is strong, mobile and a feverish worker and has now scored 10 goals in 13 Premiership starts.
The striker's third came courtesy of another astute pass from Scholes. The Dutchman strode forward, approaching the box at an angle at which some forwards might blanch, and poked the ball into the corner.
Behind Van Nistelrooy, United's midfield purred. Without Giggs and Beckham they lacked width but compensated with neat passing salvos which hypnotised their opponents.
Southampton were happy just pinging a few neat triangles. United fizzed into space with elaborate pin-pointed hexagons and octagons; the turkeys of Southampton, bamboozled and bemused, were duly stuffed. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's volley from Nicky Butt's corner put them three up before the break. After Van Nistelrooy's third Beckham and Giggs combined to send Roy Keane skipping into acres of space to score a scintillating fifth.
Phil Neville even indulged in some show-boating on the right touchline before picking up possession, running across the edge of the box and crashing a sixth beyond the beleaguered Paul Jones.
"Each game we win sends out a little of a bit of a message, saying we've maybe just turned the corner," said the defender. "We're slowly getting there. We won well but it wasn't vintage United; we were still sloppy at times."
That slackness should have been punished, but Southampton lacked conviction and instead only found through Marian Pahars when trailing to a quartet of home goals.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Blanc, Silvestre, Veron (Beckham 65), Keane (Wallwork 82), Butt, Scholes, Solskjaer (Giggs 65), van Nistelrooy. Subs Not Used: Carroll, Irwin. Booked: Scholes. Goals: van Nistelrooy 1, 34, Solskjaer 41, van Nistelrooy 54, Keane 72, Phil Neville 78.
SOUTHAMPTON: Jones, Dodd, Williams, Lundekvam, Bridge, Telfer, Davies (Ormerod 59), Svensson (Delap 81), Marsden, Pahars, Beattie. Subs Not Used: Moss, El Khalej, Petrescu. Booked: Davies. Goals: Pahars 55.
Referee: S Dunn (Bristol)
