Louis van Gaal hailed ‘amazing’ Wayne Rooney after his deft backheel ended Manchester United's eight-match winless run.
His strike in the much-needed 2-1 win over Swansea also made the forward the second-highest goal scorer in the club's history.
Rooney's 238th goal for the club moved him ahead of legend Denis Law in the scoring charts and could not have come at a better time for his manager.
Van Gaal's team looked set to extend their rotten run to nine matches after Gylfi Sigurdsson had cancelled out Anthony Martial's opener.
"He scored a fantastic goal, with his left foot behind his right foot and you cannot imagine what a goal that is," the United manager said.
"It was a great goal."
United fans revere Law and there is a statue of him arm in arm with George Best and Bobby Charlton outside Old Trafford.
Rooney's form this term may not be fitting of a club hero, but on Saturday he dug his team out of the dirt when it mattered the most.
The England captain has played 99 more times than Law so his strike-rate is poorer than the Scot's, but Van Gaal insists nothing should detract from Rooney's achievement.
"It is amazing and that on the age of 30 years," said Van Gaal, who was unaware of the feat until Rooney, above and below, informed him after the final whistle.
"Now we are playing much more matches but still it is an achievement.
"For me, it is more important he scores today. I hope it is a fantastic starting point for the team and for him."
Rooney is now only behind United's all-time leading scorer Bobby Charlton, who netted 249 times in 748 games.
Van Gaal hopes this win will kick-start United's season too.
"I think the first half was a better half than the second," he said.
Had they failed to beat a struggling Swansea side, more questions would have been asked about the Dutchman's future, particularly with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola still on the jobs market.
"All the players have done their utmost best and that is very important for the manager," he said.
There were a few boos at half-time when United failed to score in the first half for the ninth home game in succession.
Despite registering only three shots on target and playing slowly, Van Gaal was happy with his team's performance before the break.
"I think the first half was a better half than the second," he said.
"The difference was we scored the goals and then everyone is saying the second half is better.
“The second half is better because we scored two fantastic goals but as a team our performance in the first half was better.
“We don't give any chances away in the first half and we played with three defenders."
There was bad news for Van Gaal regarding Phil Jones, who had to be replaced at half-time with an ankle injury.
The new about Ashley Young was better though and he only came off because he experienced a slight muscle tightness, his manager said.
