It is not often that a regulation challenge in the 70th minute of a pre-season friendly is met with a similar response to a goal being scored.
As Jonny Evans slid in to tackle Lyon’s Pathe Mboup and clear any impending danger, the majority of the Murrayfield crowd rose to acclaim their unlikely returning hero.
Evans was playing in the famous red shirt of Manchester United for the first time in eight years in the friendly in Edinburgh. Judging by the reaction from the fans, absence has made the heart grow fonder.
It was back in March 2021 that then United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer only half-jokingly lamented the decision to sell the Northern Irishman to West Brom for £8million in 2015, as his side prepared to face Evans’ Leicester in an FA Cup quarter-final.
‘You know, Jonny Evans should have been a Manchester United player now, of course,’ Solskjaer said.
Jonny Evans made his second Manchester United debut after signing a short-term deal at the club
Evans (right) was welcomed back with open arms by United supporters inside Murrayfield
There were undoubtedly others at the club who have shared that sentiment since Evans swapped United for the Baggies and then for Leicester after 198 games, three Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph.
While Evans was unquestionably struggling towards the end of his first stint at Old Trafford – which included a six-match ban for his part in a spitting storm that also involved Papiss Cisse, with the former Newcastle man given a seven-game suspension – his departure was hardly preceded by the arrival of successful, world-class centre backs.
The likes of Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire joined after he left and you could argue it is only in the last couple of years, with the additions of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, that United have got it right in a previously problem area.
So it is little wonder Evans has been brought back into the fold by Erik ten Hag, albeit temporarily.
Even during his 45 minutes on the pitch at the home of Scottish rugby, where he was the experienced head in a sea of youth, you could see the reasons why he has been given a short-term deal as the 35-year-old marshalled his fellow defenders and barked instructions almost immediately after his introduction at half-time.
He was calm and composed on the ball, taking a page or two from the Lisandro Martinez playbook with crisp forward passes into team mates in dangerous areas.
A trademark thumping, clearing header followed his sliding intervention on Mboup before Evans and his presence enabled United to see out a second consecutive pre-season win.
At no point did it look as though Evans, who has impressed in training and during his work with the Under 21s at Carrington, had been away. He slotted seamlessly into a back four which, Evans aside, had an average age of just 21.
Evans will now join the club’s academy team on their pre-season tour of San Diego
It was like absence made the heart grow fonder when it came to Evans (middle) making his return
‘You can see that he’s a really fine character,’ said Ten Hag after the 1-0 victory over Lyon. ‘His personality, he’s a leader.
‘He understands football so it’s nice to see him playing and he really contributed to the good performance of the team in the second half.’
Evans will now go with an academy squad to train in San Diego and play Wrexham on United’s tour of the USA.
It is unclear whether his short deal will be extended – it may depend on Harry Maguire and if he stays or goes after losing the captaincy – but there are unlikely to be many complaints from supporters if he does continue beyond the end of pre-season.
