Michael Carrick is now at the wheel, but the vehicle’s essentially the same.
Manchester United, as it’s known to do, turned it on in the second half to beat Villarreal and seal a place in the UEFA Champions League’s knockout rounds.
But the win was very different after a weekend of tumult that saw United lose 4-1 to Watford and fire Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
So the post-match comments instead came from caretaker boss Michael Carrick after Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho scored in a 2-0 win in Spain.
[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]
“I said to the players it’s not been an easy couple of days for everyone at the club,” Carrick said, transcribed by the Manchester Evening News. “I can enjoy it so much but that result feels like it’s for Ole and I can’t get away from that. We had a job to do and when I was there and things needed to be taken care of I was happy to do it and thankfully it all want to plan at the end.”
Out-attempted 9-3 in the first half, United sorted itself out with goals in the 78th and 90th minutes.
One of the stars of the show was Sancho, who started the game slow — so did pretty much every Man United player — but finished with 37-of-40 passes completed, an interception, and four tackles.
And of course his goal, United’s second.
“To finish it off, Jadon was brilliant,” Carrick said. “I know how much Jadon loves the ball at his feet and trying to make things happen, it’s where he’s happiest. But on the other side of the game, he put a real effort in defense and it was a big night for him.”
United has little time to rest on Carrick-led laurels, as the Red Devils meet Chelsea this weekend.
