Towards the end of what may be his final appearance at a stadium he all but owns, he was still at it. Dashing into the penalty area with the ball at his feet, Ryan Giggs could, briefly, have been 20 again, rather than 40.
On this occasion, his momentum was interrupted by what appeared to be a handball by Hull defender Alex Bruce. Denied a penalty, Giggs raged — arms raised — at the referee. If he really is going, if these are his final days at Manchester United, he is not going quietly.
Five minutes later, warming to his cameo as a second-half substitute, Giggs had the ball again. This time he was hurtling down the left wing, as if following the footprints his endless forays have worn there over the years.
Once again Bruce was his immediate opponent and this time he was left on his backside as he dived in. Even after two decades, some opponents still haven’t learned. In an instant, Giggs was gone, the low, left-foot cross that followed forcing a sliced, hurried clearance from another Hull defender.
On paper, Tuesday night will seem to have been all about an 18-year-old debutant called James Wilson. The young striker scored two goals and by the time he was replaced with half an hour left, the Stretford End was singing his name.
That, however, does not tell the story at all. It was Giggs who, out of the blue, picked Wilson and his youth-team colleague Tom Lawrence. It was Giggs who was making a point to those senior players who had flunked their lines at home to Sunderland three days previously, Giggs who was perhaps making one last push to be retained as part of Louis van Gaal’s coaching staff next season.
And so the night went on. By the end, Giggs had played perhaps the pass of the game to release Robin van Persie for United’s third goal. In injury time, he had brought a plunging save from Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic with a sweet free-kick. Had the ball found the corner of the goal, Giggs would have continued his record of scoring in every Premier League season. The rueful smile which played on his face as he jogged over to take the resultant corner revealed that it really meant something, too.
This is not how United imagined they would end their Old Trafford season when they began the defence of their Premier League title against Chelsea nine months ago.
