Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Momentum is key — Carrick
MICHAEL Carrick believes Manchester United’s recent run of form fuelled his team-mates to secure their sixth consecutive Premier League win at West Ham on Monday evening.
Second-half goals from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw Jose Mourinho’s side stretch their unbeaten run to 13 games in all competitions but the match was overshadowed by referee Mike Dean’s controversial decision to send Hammers midfielder Sofiane Feghouli off after 15 minutes.
Reports suggested the Hammers were preparing to appeal the decision, with Dean coming under heavy criticism from some observers.
Up until the red card, the hosts had started the game brightly and the dismissal created a hotly-tempered atmosphere as every decision came under scrutiny from the home crowd, and Carrick was pleased with how the players dealt with conditions to claim victory.
Carrick said: “In t he first-half we weren’t where we wanted to be in terms of keeping possession and creating chances.
“We j ust l ooked l ess sharp after only playing on Saturday but credit should also go to them as they only played on Saturday as well and had to play with 10 men.
“But we are delighted we saw the game out.
“We have kept our run going and confidence is high, which makes such a massive difference in games like this because we feel as if we can see that finishing line and it ultimately drove us over the line to give us the three points.”