Man United: Carrick pleased with reaction

While not as bad as first thought, the injury will rule the full-back out of Wednesday’s EFL Cup third round tie at Northampton – a match Anthony Martial is also a doubt for after being forced off at Watford.

Before United’s win against Northampton, the team had lost their previous three matches to Manchester City, Feyenoord and Watford. BallTalk TV ask who is the real special one – Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola?

“I think the team, as a team was in control from the beginning”, Mourinho told Sky Sports. We were very disappointed (to lose to City) because it was in front of our fans and now we have another chance to play against them.

“The first Man City goal and this second goal against Watford – you can find an incredible similarity, which is [Aleksandar] Kolarov has the ball in a hard situation in the corner and my players, instead of going up to press they decide to give space”, he said.

“Northampton fought and they tried to cause us problems which sometimes they did but it was a positive performance overall”, he added.

“We know we have controlled the game and when you control the game, that’s when midfielders control the ball, control the game as well”.

He could only moan about another refereeing decision, claiming Stuart Attwell should have sent off Jak McCourt for a heavy challenge on Memphis Depay. “I should be waiting for you to speak about (them) – some with honest vision, some with dishonest vision”, he said. I know I talked about the red card, but that was a risky situation, and I am not speaking about the penalty.

United responded through Ander Herrera on 68 minutes and Marcus Rashford, who put the game to bed with 15 minutes still to play. “But I think collectively the team was fine”.

Such strength in depth paid dividends and, while frustrated by the goals his side conceded, Northampton counterpart Rob Page was proud of his side. But I’m sure they’ll be behind the team like they always are.

The three-game losing streak was described as a “little crisis” by Marouane Fellaini and far from ideal in terms of that title tilt, with restoring a winning mentality key to a club synonymous with success.