Carrick says 'opinion not changed' as reaction shows stability brought to Man Utd

Michael Carrick showed why he has brought stability to Manchester United after the Leeds defeat as he said his "opinion hasn't changed".

It was a night to forget for Manchester United but Carrick walked into his post-match press conference with the same quiet certainty he has carried since the day he arrived in January.

"Whatever happened tonight, it's not going to suddenly change my opinion on what we are as a team," the United manager said. "We've built enough of a foundation to kind of understand what we're good at and what we need to improve on.

"Moving forward at the end of the season, the games are going to be the games and it’s a big end of the season. There’s no getting away from it.

"The kind of mentality and the character of the boys wanting to do well and trying to give everything, I’ve never doubted that, and I won’t doubt that.

"I think, from what I’ve seen every day and in the games, it’s there. We can certainly improve at certain things so I’m not saying that but the boys are desperate to do well and desperate to improve. We’ve done a lot of good things so far, we need to do more of that for sure."

United went into Monday's game without Kobbie Mainoo through injury and Harry Maguire through suspension, with Carrick making four changes from the Bournemouth draw.

Lisandro Martinez returned at centre-back alongside Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui came in at right-back for the ill Diogo Dalot, Manuel Ugarte replaced Mainoo in midfield for his first start under Carrick and Benjamin Sesko was restored up front in place of Bryan Mbeumo.

The atmosphere inside Old Trafford was electric from the off but the mood quickly soured. Senne Lammens made a smart early stop with his feet to deny Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but Leeds were not to be denied for long. Five minutes in, Jayden Bogle's cross from the right found Noah Okafor, who stroked home coolly to give the visitors the lead.

United responded and Amad — as he so often does — caused problems with his pace down the right flank, forcing a low save from Karl Darlow with a bending effort before curling another shot wide.

But the half got worse shortly before the half-hour mark when Okafor struck again — a right-footed volley from 20 yards that deflected off Yoro and past Lammens to double Leeds' advantage.

The defining moment of the night came on 56 minutes. Referee Paul Tierney was sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR official John Brooks and after a review, concluded that Martinez had pulled Calvert-Lewin's hair — violent conduct, straight red card.

Martinez looked utterly bemused. Carrick was frustrated but measured in his response after the game. "I thought we were the better team with 10 men," he said. "I thought it was a really good reaction. We spoke at half-time about staying positive and how the game can change and what we were capable of doing."

What happened next said everything about the character Carrick has built in this squad. Rather than capitulate, United went for it. On 69 minutes Casemiro met a pinpoint Bruno Fernandes cross — the Portuguese captain's 17th assist of the season — with a firm header that flew past Darlow to make it 2-1 and set up a grandstand finish.

Carrick immediately injected fresh energy, bringing on Dalot and Mbeumo for Mazraoui and Amad, and United pushed relentlessly for an equaliser.

Casemiro had a header cleared off the line by Calvert-Lewin from another Fernandes corner but they couldn't get the equaliser.

Despite the defeat United remain third in the Premier League, seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea who are the next opponents at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. The Champions League position is still firmly in United's hands.

Carrick was clear about that in his post-match assessments. "It's one game, alright, so we'll certainly look at it and look to improve," he told Sky Sports. "We've got another big and important game next week and it's a big end to the season. We're really in a good position. Tonight was disappointing. We didn't want to lose at home but we've got to move on."