Michael Carrick has now singled out Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot after what he saw in the Manchester City match at Old Trafford last week.
Diogo Dalot was deployed in the four-man backline for the final Manchester derby of the 2025-26 season and played the full 90 minutes against Manchester City.
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However, the 26-year-old Portuguese full-back found himself at the centre of controversy inside the opening 15 minutes of Manchester United’s win against City.
Dalot caught City winger Jeremy Doku with a high-knee challenge and Premier League referee Anthony Taylor brandished a yellow card for the tackle.
VAR and Craig Pawson did not overturn Anthony Taylor’s decision or seek a review of the incident, despite the fury of Man City fans over Dalot not being sent off.
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Diogo Dalot celebrates during the Premier League match between Burnley and Manchester United at Turf Moor in 2026 in Burnley, England.
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Michael Carrick on the Man Utd vs Man City incident and Diogo Dalot’s performance in the Manchester derby
Diogo Dalot saw out the remainder of the Manchester United vs Manchester City match on a yellow card after escaping a straight red for his controversial tackle.
The United and Portugal defender had been deemed not to have acted in excessive force with his challenge and Michael Carrick felt that Dalot did well in the situation.
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Man Utd interim head coach Carrick insisted that he was thrilled for Dalot over his display against Pep Guardiola’s men in last Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League win.
“I thought he played ever so well last week,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, as per the Manchester Evening News.
“There was the incident with the yellow card, so to go one-on-one with the winger for the rest of the game and to manage that and defend as well as he did was very impressive so I was delighted with him last week.”
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Michael Carrick on what Man Utd fans are not seeing about Diogo Dalot after the criticism against him this season
Dalot played as an inverted wing-back under Ruben Amorim this season and the Portugal international did not escape criticism over his lack of consistency.
Despite his hit-and-miss form, the Red Devils right-back continued to play regularly under Ruben Amorim before the 40-year-old former United manager was sacked.
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Carrick has now come to Dalot’s defence and insisted that United fans are not seeing how “really focused” the Portugal and Red Devils full-back is for his side right now.
“It has been ups and downs with performance, not individually, but collectively, so it is not easy to get your rhythm and to find your top form,” he added.
“Diogo is really focused, desperate to do well, loves playing for the club, you can see that and, as I said, he did fantastically well last week, so [there is] a lot for him to build on.”
Dalot has made 22 appearances across all competitions in the 2025-26 campaign and the United star has netted once and registered two assists for the Red Devils.
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