MICHAEL’S WINNER

Carrick hails goalscorer Sancho on ‘fresh start’ at Reds after Ole snub

MANCHESTER UNITED’S Champions League win over Villarreal was a new beginning for the club – and a fresh start for Jadon Sancho.

Sancho suffered under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and was pushed aside after his £73million summer move to accommodate returning hero Cristiano Ronaldo in United’s attack.

His start against Villarreal in Michael Carrick’s first game in interim charge was only his eighth for United and the England winger grabbed his chance to score his first goal for the club.

United fans voted him their man of the match on the club’s website and Carrick was delighted with his graft as well as his craft.

Sancho epitomised the discipline Carrick demanded from his team as he tracked back to help defensively when Villarreal were on top during the first part of the game.

“I was so pleased for Jadon,” said Carrick. “I thought he worked his socks off, he gave everything and it wasn’t always with the ball.

“I know how much he enjoys having the ball at his feet, trying to make things happen and he showed a different side.

“He showed both sides of his game and to get his goal at the end capped if off perfectly for him and for us.

“It’s a fresh start and, hopefully, there’s more to come.”

Sancho (above, with Carrick) will hope this kickstarts his stalled United career and, after netting 16 times and making 20 assists for Borussia Dortmund last season, his stunning strike was his first goal involvement for the Reds. England boss Gareth Southgate will have noted Sancho’s performance, but the former Manchester City youngster has a lot of ground to make up to force his way into his starting line-up at next year’s World Cup.

Sancho failed to get into Southgate’s squads this month and in September, making just one appearance against Andorra, when he had two assists.

His team-mates were pleased for him to get his rewards against

Villarreal. Victor Lindelof said: “I’m very happy for Jadon. He’s been putting in the work and to see him perform the way he did and then top that off with a goal was absolutely amazing.”

Sancho’s goal crowned United’s 2-0 win to earn them a place in the Champions League last 16 for a British record 19th time and Lindelof was pleased with what was only their third clean sheet of the season.

He and Harry Maguire were pilloried as United imploded during Solskjaer’s final weeks, but he feels they finally have a platform to build upon. “We haven’t kept a clean sheet for a while, so, for us as a team, it’s an amazing feeling,” said the Swedish centre-half.

“We can build on that because, if we keep a clean sheet, we have guys up front who can score goals for us and that’s exactly what happened.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks and a tough couple of days and Ole was a coach who meant a lot to me and a lot of the other guys.

“We came here with a desire to win the match to make it through to the next round and we managed to do that.”