Like John McEnroe of old, Wayne Rooney needs to be angry before he is at his very best.
Manchester United were frustratingly plodding to a stalemate in a Humberside monsoon when Rooney mouthed off at referee Jon Moss for not getting a decision, and was booked under the new refereeing guidelines.
Some players might have sulked or offended again to see red. But Rooney used that pent-up emotion for the good of his team.
Deep into injury-time his 30-year-old legs went one final surge down the left, swept past Hull full back Ahmed Elmohamady and played in a low cross that was a simple tap-in for Marcus Rashford to score.
Even with world stars like Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the pitch, it was Rooney who made the difference once again and United now sit joint-top of the Premier League with Chelsea.
It is the first time they have won their opening three league games since 2011-12 when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge. Now it's Jose time, but the result is still the same – United can win late.
'I was expecting a difficult match,' said Mourinho. 'I told my players we were playing against a well-organised wall. We couldn't play in patches, it had to be intense all the time.
'I think we did it very well. Every time we lost the ball, we recovered it two seconds later. We were just going and going, wave after wave.'
All of this was terribly rough justice on Hull City. This season's Premier League paupers were simply magnificent for their interim manager Mike Phelan.
They have lost their 100 per cent record in cruel fashion but they can be proud of their performance, particularly their own outstanding captain Curtis Davies.
With a takeover by Chinese property developer Dai Yongge imminent, Phelan will surely get the manager's job on a permanent basis this week. He wants to make six signings before deadline day – he currently only has 13 fit senior players - including £5million Cardiff City goalkeeper David Marshall and Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason.
If he gets them, Hull will have a fighting chance of staying up particularly as they already have six points on the board from their first two games.
'Credit to my players. I thought they were heroic. I feel for them, effort is something you demand and there was no shortage of that,' said Phelan.
'There are some teams you have to be careful with. This Manchester United team are on a roll and my players were magnificent in all department. They just ran out of steam.'
Out of necessity, Phelan named an unchanged team for the third successive match but they battled manfully for an hour-and-a-half. Remember, every United starter bar Ibrahimovic cost more than Hull's most expensive player, £10million Abel Hernandez.
United were restricted to half-chances before the interval. Eldin Jakupovic made saves from Juan Mata an Pogba while Rooney's goalbound shot was blocked by Davies' midriff.
Jose Mourinho clearly got into his players at half-time because within five minutes of the restart Davies and Sam Clucas were on the turf having come off worst in 50-50 challenges. Unfortunately for Hull, Robert Snodgrass also departed after 48 minutes – the legacy of an incident before half-time when he slid into the post.
Still, Hull wouldn't roll over. Ibrahimovic looked as if the Nou Camp was preferable to a stormy night in Hull, Mourinho threw on Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in desperation and Rooney – already aggrieved at being penalised for handball – raged when he felt he had been obstructed by Davies.
United started to turn on the pressure. Davies heroically threw his body in the way to block Mkhitaryan while Rashford was denied by a brilliant Jakupovic save.
Not that Hull were without chances. Tom Huddlestone fired in a couple of trademark shots while David Meyler, who had enjoyed a tremendous midfield battle with Pogba all evening, skimmed the roof of the net from long range.
Right at the death, Rooney worked his magic and Rashford – left out of Sam Allardyce's first England squad to play for the Under 21s - took the glory as he ran over to the United fans who had spilled onto the edge of the pitch in celebration.
'Rashford is very good. I knew that last season but working with him every day now, I think the same,' said Mourinho.
'In two matches when we needed a winning goal, today and against Leicester at Wembley, he came on and gave us diversity in our football. He is different than Rooney and Zlatan.'
Marouane Fellaini is rated as a severe doubt for Belgium with a back muscle problem though United are happy to follow guidelines and have the midfielder check by the Belgian FA.
Snodgrass will be assessed by Scotland after hurting his calf in his colllision.
'He picked a fight with a goalpost and lost,' smiled Phelan.
Hull hope they will have new owners by the time they next kick off in the Premier League.
'We do believe that today could be our last game as owners,' wrote vice chairman Ehab Allam in his programme.
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