Juan Sebastian Veron produced a moment of magic to light up a dismal Amsterdam Arena tonight and at least temporarily relieve Sir Alex Ferguson's Champions League concerns.
Racing onto Roy Carroll's long clearance inside the Italians' box, Veron met Parma keeper Sebastian Frey face-to-face, then clipped over a magnificent lob to add United’s second.
With Ryan Giggs opening United's account in the first half and Solskjaer, back in action after a neck injury, bagging a third five minutes after Veron's stunning effort, the deposed Premier League champions cruised to an easy victory.
However, Ferguson may be more concerned at his after-match body count.
With their Champions League qualifier only 10 days away, the Old Trafford chief has developed a worrying list of niggling injuries.
Most serious of those could be Paul Scholes' knee. The England midfielder was on the end of some nasty challenges against Ajax on Friday and flew home today to assess the damage.
Neither Van Nistelrooy nor Fabien Barthez were able to even take a place on the bench as they nursed shin soreness and a thigh strain respectively, and with Gary Neville already out until September, Ferguson's resources are being stretched.
However, on this evidence, United look capable of matching their fiercely competitive manager's ambitions and launching a sustained assault on regaining the Premier League title.
Having looked rusty in their encounter with the hosts on Friday, United were much improved in the opening period.
They found space down both flanks, although ironically it was Brown and Rio Ferdinand who produced the best crosses of the half.