This was a peculiar day for Man Utd given their first-half injury crisis but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have learnt an awful lot about his team in the draw with Liverpool FC.
This was a day for characters at Old Trafford. It always is when Liverpool are in town, but when you suffer the kind of bad luck United did here you need a team of warriors and leaders.
Ten weeks ago you&apos;d have feared for United on that front, but 71 days after they surrendered so meekly at Anfield - costing Jose Mourinho his job - they showed how much has changed in the intervening period.
Losing Nemanja Matic on the eve of the game was a blow. Seeing Ander Herrera limp off so early was a disaster for United&apos;s midfield. When Juan Mata followed him midway through the first half there was a rueful shake of the head from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. When Jesse Lingard aggravated his hamstring injury before half-time and had to make way it had reached the realms of the ridicilous.
The pattern was set now. Liverpool, needing a win to reestablish a three-point lead at the top of the table, would run amok in the second half against a depleted, discouraged United.
Not so fast, Jurgen. Klopp&apos;s chaotic arm-waving and shoulder shrugging on the touchline after the break told of his own frustration. United might have been down to the bare bones, with 10 fit men and Marcus Rashford playing on through an injury - "a proper Manc", as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called him - but what they did have was heart, they had 10 others acting like "proper Mancs".
This match means so much to United, especially with Liverpool threatening a first league title for 29 years, and there was no way they were going to surrender, whatever the excuses they presented with.
If anything they had the better chances in the second half, but this was now less about creating a magical moment than the desire and desperation to stay in the game.
Nowhere was that epitomised more than in defence. Ashley Young had his wobbles but he never stopped acting like a captain, taking the fight to Liverpool and constantly on at his teammates, while Luke Shaw recovered from his own nervous start to produce a dominant display at left-back, so good that Klopp took Mohamed Salah off with 11 minutes to go.
Centrally Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling repelled everything Liverpool could throw at them, securing back-to-back clean sheets following the shutout at Stamford Bridge to suggest Solskjaer is beginning to solve United&apos;s defensive issues as well.
So commanding were Lindelof and Smalling that Liverpool barely got a sniff of a chance. This was as quiet a game as David de Gea has had against these opponents in a long time, against a side chasing the title, although you&apos;d have to wonder how on this evidence.
Playing Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira as the two midfield shields for so long would also have caused palpations amongst the Old Trafford faithful. Had you dreamt it the night before you&apos;d have woke up in cold sweats. But what they lacked in composure and class they made up for with fighting spirit. This was a thou-shalt-not-pass kind of day.
United remain unbeaten under Solskjaer in the league, having not lost since that 3-1 defeat in the reserve fixture. They might remain 14 points behind their bitter rivals but they have taken giant strides forward since that pre-Christmas horror show on Merseyside. This time there was no passivity on show, only passion.
Solskjaer has laid a platform for United to build on. The squad requires an overhaul in the summer but this side are now combining moments of quality with the kind of gutsy performances required for success. Don&apos;t expect a 14-point gap this time next season.
Locked in after the final whistle, "Liverpool, Liverpool, top of the league" rang out from the away end. It would have felt like a hollow victory. There chances of regaining the perch have taken a knock and on the evidence of the revival under Solskjaer United might have their own sights set on it again soon.
As that chant echoed around an empty Old Trafford, the home fans were well on their way to the pubs, the chippy or home, having sang themselves hoarse in a second half when they rose to the occasion as well as their team.