Manchester United delivered a more committed performance in a changed formation but were held to a 1-1 draw by Leeds as pressure on Michael Carrick continues to grow.
In a week that included defeat to Atletico Madrid and an explosive interview from Lisandro Martinez – who started at Elland Road – the noise was calmed somewhat by a display that showed character, if not enough quality to claim a second league win of the season.
United played without a recognised striker for the majority, allowing Youri Tielemans a more offensive role and he combined with Bryan Mbeumo to open the scoring in the first half.
But Carrick’s side faded badly as the game went on, another fixture in which they were outrun, eventually pegged back by an instinctive Dominic Calvert-Lewin strike from a poorly defended corner.
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Leeds away was pitched as the worst game to end a fractious week. In reality, it forced United to scrap and that at least appeared to show appetite for the fight. “In isolation, going to Leeds and performing how they did was a decent result,” reflected Jamie Carragher. They were helped by the fact that Daniel Farke’s side were not at their battling best.
There was, however, far more intent shown than in last week’s drab draw with Spurs at Old Trafford, where disgruntled fans booed the team off, albeit results will read one Premier League win from seven – and none since August. Carrick will know that return is not good enough to dispel unwanted talk of pressure on his position.
The key moments from Elland Road
27: CHANCE! Mbeumo connects with Tielemans’ cross but heads off target unmarked.
35: GOAL! Mbeumo makes no mistake with his second chance from the boot of Tielemans, guiding a low finish past James Trafford.
45: SUB! Martinez is replaced at half-time by Noussair Mazraoui but Carrick sticks with back three formation.
51: GOAL! Calvert-Lewin latches onto Tarik Muharemovic’s knockdown from a corner and beats Senne Lammens from close range.
Calvert-Lewin: Leeds ‘unlucky’ not to win
Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin:
“We could’ve played with a bit more quality in the final third, particularly in the first half. We were getting good quality in the box, but just not enough numbers.
“We made sure in the second half we came out with more confidence going forward. I think we were unlucky not to win the game.”
