Man Utd have lost just one of 10 Premier League games under Michael Carrick and they are now within touching distance of a Champions League return.
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick has engineered an upturn in results and mood at Manchester United
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A weekend that started with frustration for Manchester United ended with them strengthening their grip on the Champions League places after all.
There was anger in Bournemouth on Friday, with Michael Carrick and his players furious at some controversial refereeing that saw them twice pegged back to draw 2-2 on the south coast.
That turned to recrimination on Saturday when furious United officials decided to escalate matters by making a formal complaint to referees' body PGMOL, citing the decision not to award a penalty for a foul on Amad just 25 seconds before Bournemouth equalised for the first time.
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United officials raised other incidents in their complaint and this had clearly been brewing behind the scenes, but having decided to complain on Saturday morning, what happened across the rest of the day will have brightened the mood.
That point at Bournemouth, hard-earned after they had been reduced to 10 men when Harry Maguire was dismissed, proved valuable, with Liverpool losing at Brighton and Chelsea thrashed at Everton.
While United continue to pick up points under Carrick, having now taken 23 from a possible 30, their rivals lurch from one crisis to another. Liverpool's feeble performance along the south coast has raised more questions of Arne Slot, and Chelsea's collapse on Merseyside sees Liam Rosenior under pressure already.
With seven games to go, United are now within touching distance of a return to the Champions League and are on course to finish third in the Premier League, an outcome that looked unlikely until Carrick's arrival.
That doesn't mean everything is rosy at Old Trafford. In fact, Carrick has been asked questions about United's away form in successive press conferences now. A return of just two wins from eight road trips in the Premier League is starting to raise concern.
In truth, if this is the most concerning aspect of United's current predicament, then Carrick doesn't have too much to worry about, and in neither response to questions on the away form has he given the slightest indication it is occupying too much of his time.
"It’s just form and results, whether it’s home or away, it’s not something we look at too much, it’s the next game," Carrick said before the trip to Bournemouth.
Speaking after the game, he said: "This league's tough to win games. We've won a lot of games recently, so I think the amount of points we've accumulated in some of the performances and the results that we've had I think is a big positive. Home and away, it's a tough league."
That is the kind of measured approach we have come to expect from the 44-year-old and it doesn't exactly feel like United's away form is anywhere near the point of crisis at the moment.
They played well at the Vitality Stadium and were unfortunate not to win. The win at Everton was impressive and the success at Arsenal was outstanding. That doesn't hint at anything likely to be a long-term issue.
Carrick was immensely disappointed with the way they lost at Newcastle and the performance at West Ham was unconvincing, but he is right when he says this is a tough league to win games in. That is true this season more than most, when the style of many sides has led to some tight games.
Another way to look at it is that United have lost only two of their last 13 Premier League away games, which is an excellent record in anybody's book. There are trips to Chelsea, Sunderland and Brighton still to come, and they won't be easy, but there is no need to be too concerned about them just yet either.