Carrick's Man United revival continues with late win at Arsenal

The start of Michael Carrick's Manchester United reign couldn't have gone any better.

Brought in to steady the ship after Ruben Amorim was sacked, Carrick has immediately surpassed expectations by following last week's win over Manchester City with Sunday's huge 3-2 triumph at Arsenal.

Bryan Mbeumo's goal preceded excellent strikes by Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha to earn United a victory that lifts them into the Premier League's top four. It was the club's first away win at Arsenal since 2017.

Arsenal scored courtesy of a Lisandro Martinez own goal and a scrappy close-range finish by Mikel Merino, but succumbed to their first top-flight defeat at the Emirates Stadium since May 2025. They failed to win a game in which they opened the scoring for the first time this season.

Including his United caretaker stint in 2021, Carrick has now beaten Mikel Arteta twice, masterminded wins over Pep Guardiola and Unai Emery, and overseen a draw with Thomas Tuchel. Carrick and his players lapped up the adulation of the away supporters after the final whistle.

"It's a fantastic position to be in," Carrick told Sky Sports when asked if he wanted the job beyond this season, according to BBC Sport.

He added, "I'm enjoying it, and I'll continue to do what I can."

Manchester United were unchanged from the team that impressively dismissed Manchester City the previous weekend. Dorgu was again selected to the left of the attack, therefore keeping Cunha on the bench.

Arsenal started strongly but only Martin Zubimendi forced a good save from Senne Lammens before Manchester United started to get a foothold in the game.

Neither of the first-half goals were pretty. Martin Odegaard sliced a volley toward the six-yard box which hit Martinez's standing leg and rolled into the goal while he attempted to clear the ball. Mbeumo did well to round David Raya for United's equalizer but he was gifted possession thanks to an ugly pass from the usually faultless Zubimendi.

Dorgu's finish was much easier on the eye. The wideman played a pair of one-twos with Bruno Fernandes to circumnavigate Zubimendi and Declan Rice before slamming a shot from outside the box in off the underside of the crossbar.

Arsenal made it 2-2 in the 84th minute when Merino bundled home following a corner, but Cunha - who replaced Mbeumo earlier in the second half - decided the entertaining affair with a monstrous effort with three minutes of normal time remaining. Kobbie Mainoo slid a pass through two Arsenal bodies to Cunha, who turned and strode purposefully toward the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable strike into the bottom corner from around 25 yards.

"We're just starting off, and it's a good starting point, but we need to start putting some layers on top, and we'll try to do that in the coming weeks," Carrick said.