It was the first-ever meeting between Manchester United and Atalanta, and Wednesday's 2021-22 UEFA Champions League Group F encounter at Old Trafford proved to be a barnburner.
The teams combined for five goals, with Mario Pašalić and Merih Demiral on target for Atalanta while Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo scored for United.
The visitors hit twice within a 13-minute span to stun the home side early, with Pašalić striking first at the quarter-hour mark. The 26-year-old tapped in from a couple of yards out after a good bit of play by Atalanta down the right flank.
Demiral then doubled his side's lead in the 28th minute by heading the ball home off a corner kick.
The two-goal deficit was the biggest United had ever seen at halftime of a Champions League match at Old Trafford, but the Red Devils didn't allow that piece of history to become the defining narrative of the match.
Instead, they pushed for a goal early in the second half and were rewarded in the 53rd minute as Rashford caught the entire Atalanta defence napping and latched onto a smart through-ball from Bruno Fernandes before racing in on goal and slipping the ball past Juan Musso from a tight angle.
It would then take nearly 20 more minutes of pressure before United found the equalizer, as a corner kick was cleared by Atalanta only to see the ball immediately lobbed back into the penalty area by Jadon Sancho. The cross met Edinson Cavani near the penalty spot, and the Uruguayan flicked it across goal for Maguire to emphatically finish at the back post.
At that point all the momentum was on the hosts' side, and it seemed inevitable that a winner would be found by the Red Devils. That's exactly what happened in the 81st minute, and it was to no surprise that the game-winning goal came from Ronaldo, who met a Luke Shaw cross 10 yards from goal and hit a powerful header past Musso.
The comeback complete, United thwarted any Atalanta thoughts of a late equalizer, claiming the three points and first place in the group after three matches.