A brief stare down the lens of the camera. A subtle smirk on his face. From the moment he emerged from the Old Trafford tunnel on Saturday evening, you had an inkling that Cristiano Ronaldo meant business.
Many questions had been littered throughout the week proceeding Manchester United's defeat at the hands of Manchester City, including accusations that Ronaldo's absence was due to being dropped - not the hip flexor issue that Ralf Rangnick insisted was the case. An unauthorised trip home to Portugal only made things worse.
However, despite adamance as to a bigger issue displayed through conspiracies from the likes of Roy Keane, nothing factual ever ensued.
Rangnick has always maintained that it was an existent injury that kept Ronaldo sidelined at the Etihad Stadium. His place back in the starting side against Tottenham Hotspur failed to reaffirm any of the week's undermining allegations. It was a chance for Ronaldo to make a statement.
United started the match without much poise, often ceding possession and allowing an abundance of space for Spurs to play through. Antonio Conte's side, by contrast and by nature, were coordinated, structured and compact. United were restricted, ushered into a negative approach, often passing sideways and backwards whilst shifting the ball slowly and with tentative authority.
However, the suggested necessity of a statement act soon came to avail, aligned with United's acknowledgement and rectification of their passive nature. United's early unsteadiness was entirely opposed and, of course, the scorer was Ronaldo. When the odds are put against him, he has made it almost an inevitability that he will deliver.
Credit, for his leading role the buildup, does have to be given to Fred, who drifted expertly into space to receive the returning Raphael Varane's pass and deceive Rodrigo Bentancur with a deft flick into space. Ronaldo was the recipient of Fred's piece of invention, similarly aware to seamlessly float into the vacant gap engineered by his midfield teammate.
Ronaldo seized the arisen opportunity to hit the ball from range, with his lack of hesitation direct juxtaposition to his recent uncharacteristic lack of belief. You could argue that a lack of duress from the opposing defence afforded Ronaldo the chance to unleash, but the finish was exceptional nonetheless - hardly one of a player bereft of confidence.
Whilst Ronaldo's strike did provide a much-required injection of life into affairs, it more so acted as an alarm call for Tottenham to up the ante from their own standpoint. The response was one of intent from the visitors, with Ben Davies giving United's defence a wakeup call of their own, finding the net albeit ruled offside.
Proven by the buildup to Davies' chalked off goal, Spurs held certain attacking threat, especially through the outlet offered by their wingbacks. There was plenty of space on the flanks open for exploitation, with United consequently conceding chances aplenty. Following a corner won from issues triggered by Tottenham's wingbacks, Diogo Dalot - back in the side after four matches on the bench - was forced to make a goal-line clearance.
United had struggled to remotely capitalise on their advantage, resultantly paying for their invitation of pressure as a consequence of frailty within the defensive structure. Even though it was a Harry Kane spot kick which saw Spurs level affairs, the winning of the penalty was an encapsulation of United's lapses.
Jadon Sancho was twice inferior to Dejan Kulusevski (who interestingly idolised Adnan Januzaj in the youthful years of his budding career) and his efforts to create, allowing his counterpart to deliver a cross which was blocked by Alex Telles' hand. It was to United's frustration that the incident was controversially not dissimilar to an earlier handball claim against Eric Dier which was waved away at the other end. No matter, it was a warranted equaliser.
As has often been the case with the current United crop, concession was a catalyst for reinvigoration for a side that had lacked aggression. Tottenham had possessed a major grip on proceedings after going behind, but United proved punishing instantaneously after finding their advantage wiped.
Nemanja Matic displayed his expert passing range from a deep area to pick out Sancho's run, with the latter displaying composure to slot across to the onrushing Ronaldo, who converted to seal a brace.
Somewhat rare this season, there was exhibition of a clinical edge from United. Both of the runners were attentively a step ahead of the Spurs defensive, unravelling an out of sync offside trap. There was a real proof of the significance of playing at pace and with energy, with no mistake in the execution.
By making 805 goals 806 as he converted for two, Ronaldo had, according to FIFA records, confirmed his status as the outright all-time top scorer in competitive football history whilst surpassing 10 league goals for the 16th successive season. He was really up for it, almost sprinting off the pitch at half time.
The juncture did, for a sustained period, prove a rupture to United's rhythm and allowed scope for Tottenham to promptly contend again. There was yet more defensive switch-off, with gaps maintained amidst United's defensive ranks for capitalisation of.
United's desire, again, regressed, with the overall quality of the game wavering for a phase.
Granted an opportunity to start ahead of Anthony Elanga, and in Bruno Fernandes' absence through illness, Marcus Rashford largely embodied the mishaps within United's showing. He had lacked the courage to attack opposing players, sometimes even inconveniencing passages, such as an instant where he inadvertently managed to tackle Sancho.
Rashford was the first to be hooked by Rangnick, with Elanga introduced, but without enough time to make an impact before Spurs profited from yet another spell of domination. For the second time, United had failed to build on a go-ahead goal and conceded another equaliser.
Again, the defensive setup was suspect, with a seeming lack of enthusiasm to prevent Tottenham's attack. Centre back Cristian Romero was allowed to surge forward under no pressure, with United disjointed as Heung-Min Son was able to slot Sergio Reguilon into a wide open space inside the penalty area. Dalot wasn't tight enough as Reguilon played the ball across, which Harry Maguire unfortunately turned past a hopeless David de Gea.
Romero, enabled to simply phase into the box, seemed to be waiting opportunely to tap the ball in anyway; there were arguments that he may have been offside, but he certainly didn't intervene with play and Maguire wasn't to know that before attempting to make the block. It was a wretched instant of ill-fate for the United captain.
With urgency lacking as a whole, it had become a case that Ronaldo was almost running a one man charge at times. It was a positive in some respects given his recent inefficiency, with priorly only the single goal since the turn of the year.
Edinson Cavani's long-awaited return in place of Matic was bold from Rangnick given Spurs' foothold, though it provided United similar impetus to that at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when a forward pair was deployed from the outset, offering Ronaldo support in his exploits.
Prompt success ensued for United, even if it was from a corner as opposed to open play. However, the fact of a set-piece goal being converted was of promise in its own right. Telles' delivery was pinpoint, with Ronaldo showing endeavour to wriggle away from his marker and, in Gary Neville's words, head "like a non-league centre back" past Hugo Lloris.
14 years on from his last United hat-trick, Ronaldo sealed a treble once again - for the 59th time in his illustrious career and the 13th consecutive calendar year.
Rangnick took the goal as a cue to withdraw Ronaldo in order to successfully see the game out and seal the deal, with Old Trafford standing in unison to applaud their hero on the day.
"Maybe it makes sense to send him to Portugal for three days then have him not train for two days," United's interim manager joked.
It was the sort of performance that Ronaldo was brought back to produce. After a taxing few months, it was a trademark display of his mentality to produce the goods once more, reciprocated elsewhere to overcome a pair of equalisers and take three points.
It will take a couple of months' wait to see if Saturday's result will be defining, though United, despite trailing Arsenal, do remain in contention for a top four finish.
The stats and eye test alike likely prove that United's win was somewhat undeserved, but it was a story of defiance and a statement that will undoubtedly spark a boost in confidence.
"It will give us a boost for our next game," Rangnick assured.
It's now full steam ahead towards Tuesday night's Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid.
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