Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick got his tenure off to the perfect start in beating Manchester City - but warned his players that those are the levels they must keep
Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick after beating Manchester City
Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick after beating Manchester City(Image: )
View 2 Images
Michael Carrick hailed his dream start as interim Manchester United manager, after leading his side to a delirious derby win at Old Trafford. Carrick watched United demolish Manchester City with their best performance of the season.
Second half goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu left Pep Guardiola and his flops stunned. And Carrick admitted his first game in charge couldn't have gone any better.
He said: "It is a great start - there is no getting away from that. Before the game, we spoke as coaches and said the boys were in a good place.
"City are an unbelievable team and they change it, so you have to go to Plan B and C. But for it to pan out like that, the boys were fantastic in so many ways. Yeah, it was pretty good."
Carrick revealed how his players took huge motivation from the backing of a vociferous home crowd. But he warned United that they have now set the benchmark for the remainder of the season.
Carrick is hoping to get the results he needs to stand a chance of securing the job on a permanent basis. And he added: "I think the players fed off it. The players left the dressing room unbelievably desperate to do well.
"I said this can be a magical place. Hopefully it is just the start. We are not getting carried away massively. That is the challenge now - it needs to be a version of normal.
"Certainly we are not going to have games with the emotion and feeling that today brought, but there are levels of standard we need to live up to.
"Consistency is the key to any success and if you find that you are on to a winner. Big one again next week (against Arsenal ), but we have got a good foundation to build on."
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, looks dejected
Pep Guardiola admitted the better team won as his Man City side failed to deliver at Old Trafford(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Guardiola offered no excuses and admitted the best team won. And while he insisted Diogo Dalot should have been sent off for a crude challenge on Jeremy Doku in the first half, he didn't want to blame this bad decision for the result.
He said: "The better team won. They were better. When a team is better you have to accept it. They had the energy we didn't have, so congratulations (to United).
"We have the duty to analyse the game in general - and they were better. You could say that it was a red card, then a different game. It is easy for me to come here and say it should be a red card.
"It is not about that, we will not grow up if that is the argument to win or lose a game. To win you have to do better."