Manchester United’s title credentials are long settled — they sit third, nine points off [Arsenal](https://londoninsider.co.uk/tag/arsenal/) — but what Michael Carrick is building at Old Trafford has the feel of something more durable than a managerial caretaker job. Sunday’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa, the stats still updating as of writing, confirmed the Old Trafford crowd is getting its money’s worth this season.
Casemiro opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, with the veteran midfielder apparently finding a new gear under Carrick after a difficult couple of seasons.
Villa levelled through Ross Barkley on loan from the visitors — yes, the same Ross Barkley — in the 64th minute, before United pulled away comprehensively. Matheus Cunha restored the lead seven minutes later, Bruno Fernandes supplying the assist, his 16th of the Premier League season. Benjamin Sesko added a third in the 81st minute to make it convincing.
The story of the season for Villa is one of accumulating absences at precisely the worst time. Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara are out. John McGinn has only just returned.
The midfield Unai Emery built to compete at the very top of the table has spent large chunks of 2026 understaffed. Without that engine room, their attacking talent has found it harder to function — they’ve taken five points from their last six league games, a stark drop from their earlier-season form.
United, meanwhile, have dropped just one league game under Carrick — the Newcastle defeat that broke an 11-match unbeaten run. They remain third on 54 points, three clear of [Chelsea](https://londoninsider.co.uk/tag/chelsea/) and Liverpool. Bruno Fernandes’ assist numbers are genuinely extraordinary. If United can sustain this form through the run-in, a Champions League return feels less like hope and more like expectation.