Gary Neville lauds ‘absolutely electric’ Man Utd duo amid ‘incredible day’ for Michael Carrick

Gary Neville praised Bryan Mbeumo and two of his Manchester United team-mates after the 2-0 home win over rivals Manchester City, while caretaker manager Michael Carrick also impressed.

Carrick only had three days to implement his style on Man Utd after agreeing a contract until the end of the season. His side subverted expectations by damaging City’s title hopes with an impressive victory at Old Trafford.

Harry Maguire hit the crossbar from point-blank range early on, while Diogo Dalot was lucky not to get sent off for a high challenge on Jeremy Doku.

United had plenty of chances, with Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes both having goals ruled out in the first half.

After the break, Casemiro and Mbeumo had great chances to score before the latter finally broke the deadlock in the 65th minute. United caught City on the break and Fernandes set up Mbeumo for a first-time finish.

Matheus Cunha replaced Mbeumo in the 71st minute and got past Nico O’Reilly five minutes later before crossing for Patrick Dorgu to score United’s second goal.

Amad hit the post in the 90th minute after causing Nathan Ake all sorts of problems, while Mason Mount had a stoppage-time goal ruled out for offside.

On co-commentary for Sky Sports, Neville called Mbeumo and Fernandes‘ attacking partnership ‘outstanding’, saying that they made United and Old Trafford ‘absolutely electric’ in the derby.

Neville added: “Three days of pretty good work from Michael Carrick, I have to say.”

The pundit also labelled Casemiro ‘outstanding’ in midfield, adding that the Brazilian ‘looks like he’s got his legs back’.

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Bruno Fernandes ‘free’ again

Ruben Amorim dropped Fernandes from a No 10 to No 8, but Carrick has given him a new lease of life in his preferred position. On this tactical change, Neville said: “So much better to see Bruno Fernandes in that No 10 position. He’s sat in there and fed all of them. He’s free…”

Neville continued at full time: “Absolutely incredible day. Goals help, results help, but by goodness was that performance needed.

“He [Carrick] has played in great Manchester United teams, he knows what it looks like. But to actually put that into a team in three days, where you can see some of the work that’s gone on…

“This is not a time to get carried away, Manchester United have had so many false starts. But that is massively encouraging, to say the least.”

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