As he prepared to take the decisive spot-kick, it was not lost that he had recently suffered the pain of being jeered at Old Trafford, when substituted during a defeat to Newcastle United.
I think most people will accept the Dutchman was merely a lightning rod for the fans' ire and frustration that day, a theory bolstered by the support he swiftly received when warming up in our following game, against Liverpool at Anfield.
He came on as a substitute and would have had the matchwinning assist at the death, had the ball not bobbled and Harry Maguire's shot gone over, rather than under, the bar.