Wayne Rooney broke Manchester United's all-time scoring record in dramatic fashion, bending home a stunning 250th goal to secure a hard-fought draw at Stoke deep in stoppage time.
Just as the match looked to be slipping through United's fingers at the bet365 Stadium, the 31-year-old stepped up - like he has done so many times since joining from Everton in 2004 - to land a crucial blow.
Rooney's outstanding free-kick sent the visiting support wild, cancelling out Juan Mata's first-half own goal and securing a 1-1 draw that saw the captain move clear as United's all-time top scorer in front of Sir Bobby Charlton.
Rooney said: "It's difficult at the moment to be over-pleased because of the result - two points dropped - but in the grand scheme of things it's a huge honour for me.
"It's something I never expected when I joined the club but I'm really proud and hopefully there's a lot more to come."
For what was his 546th competitive United appearance, Rooney had come off the bench in the 67th minute as a replacement for Juan Mata, whose own goal had out Stoke 1-0 up in the 19th.
Rooney did not made much of an impact thereafter - until he stepped up to take the free-kick from the left, just outside the box, in the fourth minute of added time.
After sweeping the ball into the net in superb style, he celebrated in a fairly restrained manner, only briefly embracing his team-mates as he ran back to the halfway line, presumably as he thought there was still time for United to win the contest.
Meanwhile, Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson were among those in the stands applauding the historic moment.
United boss Jose Mourinho said: "It's a record of the biggest club in England, one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"It's a record that belonged before him to an amazing legend of English football, so now Wayne becomes definitely a legend for Manchester United."
