Losing to Liverpool 3-0 in embarrassing fashion on your own pitch is not fun.

A 12-point gap for a top-4 spot in the Premier League with so little season remaining is not fun.

The dependable and unceasing buzz of David Moyes’ incompetence and impending firing is not fun.

But playing for your life as true underdogs in a match in which you need a 3-0 result against Olympiacos to salvage the season in front of an Old Trafford crowd that knows the stakes and embraces them fully, is all kinds of fun.

Manchester United was aggressive from the start with their superstars, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, showing the type of pace and chemistry we haven’t seen this season.

Rooney not only had six successful take-ons, but he also was the game’s best tackler with five of six successful, according to StatsZone. Rooney hit the post in the 17th minute as an opening salvo, six minutes before van Persie drew a penalty to go up 1-0.

Rooney signed a $104 million contract less than a month ago and his fingerprints were all over the win. 

“It was just a desire to win,” said Rooney on the pitch after the game.

The second goal came just before halftime when Ryan Giggs found Rooney on a pass down the right wing (deftly described by Musa Okwonga as ‘basically a 2-iron on the run’) that was centered by Rooney to a cutting van Persie near goal.

The third goal came from van Persie early in the second half on a free kick from 20 yards out in which Roberto barely moved.

While van Persie had the brilliant hatrick and Rooney had a remarkable all-around game, it was David De Gea in goal that allowed the outfield magic to materialize. De Gea’s double save in the 40th minute truly kept United in the game, because a road goal by Olympiacos would have forced a four-goal game for Moyes’ side.

The Giggs to Rooney to van Persie goal came just five minutes later.

De Gea was steady throughout the final 40+ minutes to preserve the lead, punching out a cross in the 87th minute, as well as a shot in stoppage time from Joel Campbell (on loan from Arsenal). De Gea has been in top form for most of the season and this performance is another one for his World Cup CV to join Spain's squad.

The win is an instantaneous lift of pressure for Moyes to at least force the supporters to momentarily lay down their pitchforks and finish out the season. This is United's first UCL quarterfinals berth since 2011, which the Sir Alex Ferguson faithful ignore. The Moyes pile-on has become its own huge amusement park and that allows United to simply play football for their remaining nine (not excessively challenging beyond the Man City derby) Premier League games and the UCL quarters. 

But we must remember this was an improbable comeback against Olympiacos, a club fortunate to even be in the knockout phase and the issues United has faced on the pitch under Moyes won't go away magically. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain all reached the quarters last season, while Atlético Madrid club and Chelsea round out the field with United. A subpar United will be run off the pitch by any of those seven clubs.

"I don't want to say this is the moment, but in the same breath, I really hope it is," said Moyes postgame.

"I genuinely think this club is capable of (winning the Champions League). If we play to our capabilities, which we have not done enough."

With a six-year contract, it's difficult to envision the Glazers eating all of Moyes' money in the summer now that he has survived this blitz. Moyes has already been at the helm for the Rooney extension and the £40 million transfer for Juan Mata (who incidentally has been ordinary in his past four matches and wasn't missed in this one being cup-tied), so giving him at least one more season to allow United to become his club instead of the one he inherited from Ferguson is the sound and prudent move.