James Milner delivered a goodbye goal to the Aston Villa supporters as his side shrugged off Martin O'Neill's departure to beat West Ham 3-0 in their Premier League opener at Villa Park.
Milner is expected to complete a move to Manchester City in the coming days for a fee believed to be around 26million pound and he was roundly booed when he was first introduced to the home crowd.
But 20 minutes after the re-start it was different story as the same supporters roared his name in approval after he added to first half goals from Stewart Downing and Stiliyan Petrov.
The Villa players produced a display of attacking football that defied all the talk of a club in turmoil following manager O'Neill's shock resignation last Monday and they really should have scored more.
Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald was rewarded for his brave decision to start with Milner, but he was fortunate to come up against a toothless and error-prone West Ham side.
On 15 minutes, a poor punch from goalkeeper Robert Green allowed youngster Marc Albrighton to volley towards goal, and Green could only parry for Downing to tap home.
Defender James Tomkins then almost scored a comical own-goal for the visitors but the ball hit the post after deflecting off his knee.
The hosts deservedly doubled their lead five minutes before the break when Petrov timed his run perfectly to head home Young's cross.
The deluge towards the visitors' goal continued in the second half just as torrential rain fell from the skies.
Downing hit the top of the crossbar three minutes after the re-start with a curling free-kick from 25 yards.
Then Milner stepped up to make it three, smashing home with his left foot after some fine work from Albrighton.
Villa were on the rampage and Downing hit the crossbar for the second time of the afternoon before Carew scuffed an effort onto the post.
On 77 minutes Milner was substituted to a hero's reception, and all of a sudden things are looking bright at Villa Park.