"Manchester United never lose, they just run out of time," was a quote once attributed to that great sage Steve McClaren. The erstwhile former England manager and sometime Dutchman was speaking as United closed in on the treble of 1999.

Hopes of a quintuple, quadruple and treble may have dimmed after those defeats to Liverpool and Fulham yet Sunday saw United able to relive some fond memories of their greatest season. Post-match, Gary Neville was able to say how "grateful" he was to a young man who was not even of primary school age a decade ago and just two years old when a Steve Bruce double against Sheffield Wednesday raised the rafters on Easter Saturday 1993 to revive a flagging and fading force.

In the years since 1999, United have lost some of that fabled and feared ability to mount a late charge, especially in the last month, but Federico Macheda's wonderful strike was highly reminiscent of supersub supreme Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who just happens to be the club's reserve-team manager and specialist striking coach these days.

Macheda's muscular and bustling style reminds one more of Norman Whiteside than the Norwegian, the 17-year-old's approach very much like that of the Northern Irishman who was a teenage star for United in the early 1980s before injury robbed him of a career beyond his mid-twenties.

Personally, I had only really heard of Macheda last week, when I saw a Youtube link posted of his hat-trick for the reserves at Newcastle. A beautifully taken trio of goals served as a prelude to that dipping and curving strike on Sunday, which itself bore something of a resemblance to the Wayne Rooney goal for Everton at Arsenal in 2002 that announced the Englishman on the Premier League stage.

The Italian follows Danny Wellbeck, his partner for the closing minutes of the 3-2 win against Aston Villa, in scoring on his league debut for the club. By contrast, Wellbeck's goal was the final strike in a 5-0 thumping of Stoke. Sir Alex Ferguson has already sought to try and calm the furore surrounding his latest find, merely offering "well done" as congratulation to a young man who may yet be the greatest joker he has ever played in such a high-stakes game. Feet will be kept firmly on the ground.

Indeed, Wellbeck has already received a dressing down from his manager for over-egging a goal celebration against Derby County, making the mistake of aping Eric Cantona. In the same fashion that "Fergie's Fledglings" had their wings clipped until they were old enough to know better, Macheda will be hidden away from the media. In truth, it was a surprise he was allowed to speak to the cameras in post-match even though club-captain and pravda deputy Neville was sent to make sure the questions asked were not too over-reaching.

In making such a mark on his debut "Kiko" follows his baby-faced Scandinavian mentor. Unknown substitute Solskjaer scored on his debut against Blackburn in United's first game of the 1996-7 season. Of his current colleagues, both Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs notched on their United bows. A nineteen-year-old Scholes grabbed two in a League Cup game at Port Vale after which fans asked for their money back because United had played without their stars of the time (team that day: Walsh, G Neville, Irwin, Butt, May, Keane, Gillespie, Beckham, McClair, Scholes, Davies with subs O'Kane and Sharpe - not bad, in retrospect).

Giggs, who finds himself older than United's latest hero's father, scored in a Manchester derby in 1991 though has often denied that he actually touched the ball on its way in. As if further to prove that the bambino need not get above himself, Rooney announced himself at his new club with a Champions League hat-trick while Cristiano Ronaldo, while not scoring, played a thrilling early hand by twisting the blood of Bolton's defence on the opening day of the 2003-4 season. In the stands on Sunday sat Bobby Charlton, as was, who in 1956 scored twice on his Busby Babe bow at Charlton Athletic with his less favoured left foot. He had injured his right and, hiding from Matt Busby the seriousness of his injury, did not want to pass up such an opportunity and played on one leg.

Of course, scoring on one's debut is no guarantee of future success. Giuseppe Rossi, United's last Italian first-teamer, scored on his own initial league bow, a 3-1 win at Sunderland in October 2005 but failed to truly make the grade at the club, perhaps as a result of his style being far too similar to that of Wayne Rooney. He also lacked the power of the England striker. Rossi, of course, is now at Villarreal and doing pretty well for the Spanish club, proving there can be life after Old Trafford but he can still serve as a cautionary tale.

For a new player to make it at Old Trafford, Ferguson requires a player to be able to do something different to the rest of his squad; not easy in a group of such strength. Earlier this decade, David Healy's goal-poaching heroics for Northern Ireland were all very well yet he was unable to get a game when he had Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Solskjaer ahead of him. He was granted one chance, as a late sub against Ipswich Town, and even hit the bar. A month later he was sold to Championship club Preston.

In mitigation for Macheda, during that brief cameo, he looked markedly different in style to the terrier movement of Rooney and Carlos Tevez and much more direct than Dimitar Berbatov. He may yet add a different dimension. In putting himself about among an experienced and physically robust Villa defence, Macheda bore similarities to Italian target-men like Pierluigi Casiraghi and Christian Vieri, granting another option to Ferguson way ahead of any expected schedule.

While United are wracked by injury, with their expensive Bulgarian missing for at least the next fortnight, Macheda can play a part, for he is registered in the Champions League. Yet we should expect him to be mothballed soon as United attempt to close out their latest hunt for honours. All of the aforementioned forbears, save for maybe Giggs, who arrived almost fully formed as a first-teamer, had to wait to for their time to fully arrive

Sunday's celebrations and congratulations for Macheda were much deserved yet he should consider the achievements of those elders and betters to know that the hard work starts here. Though for him at least, time will not be running out soon.