Manchester United were not necessarily at their best at the Hill Dickinson Stadium against Everton but they secured another important three points.
There was little goal mouth action in the first half, with arguably the best chance of the half being a shot from Diogo Dalot that went just wide of the post from the edge of the box.
The breakthrough came midway through the second half after an excellent counter attacking move. United won the ball back and Matheus Cunha played an impressive diagonal ball forward to Bryan Mbeumo and he carried it forward, before playing it to Benjamin Sesko who completed the move by slotting it past Jordan Pickford.
Everton applied the pressure and had a series of corners late in the game. The way they set up from the set pieces put United keeper **Senne Lammens**under a lot of pressure. The players crowded the goal line but Everton could not find the finishing touch.
United had chances to double the lead late on but they held out for a 1-0 win.
Here are four takeaways from the game:
Benjamin Sesko has come from the bench to score important goals in three of United's last four games. He is becoming a key player and, whilst he may not want to settle for a role on the bench, he is starting to make an impact at the club.
It has not been an easy season for Sesko at times as he arrived with big expectations upon him and it took a while for him to start finding the net. However, winners against Fulham and Everton and the vital late equaliser at West Ham have demonstrated his qualities. He has taken his goals well.
His celebration after the goal was also an emotional one and one that maybe suggested to his manager that he wants to be starting games and have a chance to make an impact from the first whistle.
Carrick deserves credit for his substitutions though, as he sensed that the match was not going their way from an attacking perspective. He acted first and replaced Amad Diallo with Sesko.
He could have held on and waited but the decisive action contributed towards United taking the lead when they did.
The summer signings played a key role
When they have been on top of their game, United have looked a much better side this year than they did last season. That is evidenced by their position in the Premier League table but also with the way they are playing.
In the summer transfer window, under Ruben Amorim, they signed Lammens, Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko. All four of them played a key role in the win on Merseyside.
Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko combined wonderfully for the goal and it was a move that had pace, purpose and quality.
Last season, at times, United's play was lacking pace and was pedestrian like in the midfield.
Credit is due for their summer signings as they identified the areas where they needed to improve and made some important deals.
In some previous windows, they spent a lot of money on some big players from the European leagues but this did not always work out. They may not have signed a significant number of players last summer but they did sign experienced Premier League players who have made a difference to the side.
Cunha brings a level of aggression and physicality that they may have been lacking in recent seasons and when Mbeumo went to the **AFCON**over Christmas he was missed.
There are different ways to win
Some of the wins under Carrick have demonstrated a more exciting brand of football and a clear attacking intent, notably the 3-2 win at Arsenal.
However, there is more than one way to win a football match and, against David Moyes' side, they showed that they can come out on top in a different manner.
Everton are a good side and, despite losing more home games than they would have liked at the new stadium, they are having a good season.
United were not at their free-flowing attacking best but Carrick will have learnt a lot about his players. They could have easily been satisfied with a point away from home but they went for the win.
Once they scored, they kept a clean sheet and held on for the win. Clean sheets were rare under Amorim with them only preventing a side from scoring on two occasions. However, Carrick now has three clean sheets in six games.
On a weekend where Chelsea dropped points with a home draw against Burnley, it has been a successful couple of days for Carrick's side.
They now sit fourth with a three point lead over Chelsea and Liverpool, the sides in fifth and sixth.
United are also now only three points behind Aston Villa in third place.
There are still 11 games left in the season and United have put themselves in a good position to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.
It looks likely again that fifth place will secure entry to the continent's top competition.
Carrick will want his side to continue pushing and the longer that the unbeaten run under his management goes on, he may be a contender to be leading the club next season.