An audition that began with a win against Manchester City might just have ended with victory against Liverpool. Manchester United are back in the Champions League, and Michael Carrick must surely be in line to lead them there.
The pulsating, nerve-shredding 3-2 win against Liverpool was a 10th success in 14 games for a head coach whose contract has only three games left to run at the moment. It means he has beaten City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool, and to overlook him now would be a travesty. It must be a matter of when, rather than if, he is offered the chance to build on an excellent four months.
Carrick looks the part as a United head coach. Dressed in a club suit, showing little emotion on the sideline unless it is really necessary. He celebrated Kobbie Mainoo’s stunning winner in front of the Sir Bobby Charlton stand and stood up to Arne Slot when he had suggested Bryan Mbeumo had dived near the dugouts.
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With pretty much every elite boss off the market, Carrick is the only possible choice, despite Andoni Iraola’s impressive finish to his tenure at Bournemouth. Carrick has proven he can handle the heat that comes with sitting in that dugout, and that is an important trait.
He also showed an ability to improve these players, and Mainoo might well be his masterpiece. The academy graduate was out of the team and at a low ebb when his fellow midfielder walked into the club in January. Now he has a five-year contract, is in the form of his life and has just scored a winning goal against Liverpool in front of the Stretford End.
The work Carrick and his coaching staff have done with Mainoo has paid off and he looks a more complete midfielder than ever before. This was the second time he had scored against Liverpool, and Old Trafford careers can be built on doing that. Just ask Diego Forlan, back at the ground he once called home for the first time since he left the club 22 years ago.
Usain Bolt was another interested observer at Old Trafford. The Jamaican sprinter is a die-hard United fan and even the 100m world record holder would have been impressed with the speed of the starts his team have made this week.
United were all over Brentford in the early stages on Monday and Liverpool had no answer for the way they came out of the blocks here. There might only have been three points between these teams in the table at the start of the day, but they look like football clubs going in different directions.
That was evident in their respective starts to this game. United played with a tempo that Liverpool couldn’t live with. The pressure had been building when Bruno Fernandes’ corner was only cleared to Matheus Cunha, who struck a half-volley that deflected off Alexis Mac Allister and crept into the corner of the net.
On Monday, United sat on their lead and lost the initiative. They were never going to do that this time. They continued to pour forward. Benjamin Sesko could have had a penalty when Curtis Jones impeded his attempt to shoot. He scored anyway 20 seconds later, Freddie Woodman only palming Fernandes’ header onto the striker, who gleefully watched the ball hit the back of the net.
It was one-way traffic. United ripped forward again just before the half hour, Mbeumo crossing for Fernandes, but his half-volley flew inches wide of Woodman’s goal, with the goalkeeper motionless.
It looked like being an easy afternoon for United at the break, but a team that seemed to have shrugged off its habit of self-sabotage found it returning at the worst possible moment. Amad had been on the pitch barely two minutes when he passed the ball straight to Dominik Szoboszlai, who took full advantage by charging towards goal and producing a left-footed finish.
That gift handed Liverpool a lifeline they hadn’t looked like finding and the presents kept coming. Senne Lammens has been almost faultless for United this season, but his biggest blunder came in their most-watched game of the season. He passed the ball straight to Mac Allister, and Liverpool capitalised, with Szoboszlai then teeing up Cody Gakpo for a tap-in.
It took United a while to clear their heads from that double blow, and Lammens had to kick away a free-kick on his line, after Harry Maguire had missed the header and Luke Shaw had inadvertently sent it goalwards. Liverpool were carrying a threat, but United had the conviction to go and win it.
Casemiro should have done better when he sent a free header straight at Woodman, but his midfield partner made no mistake. The ball fell nicely to Mainoo on the edge of the area, but his controlled finish was spectacular and sent the Stretford End into raptures. ‘Manchester born and bred’, announced Alan Keegan. What a week for Mainoo.
Forlan’s strikes against Liverpool were the highlight of his time at United. Mainoo’s is an Old Trafford career that promises so much more than a couple of fondly remembered goals, and Carrick is the man to try and deliver that.
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2026-05-03 16:46:40
