Michael Carrick praised Kobbie Mainoo’s impressive performance and paid tribute to a stubborn Sabah side as Manchester United marked his return to the Champions League with a 4-0 win at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Matheus Cunha opened the scoring in the 27th minute, delicately tapping Patrick Dorgu’s cross at the back post, before Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko scored late in the first half to put the tie beyond the Azerbaijani side.
Lisandro Martinez added a fourth in the second period after an impressive performance from substitute Joshua Zirkzee.
Sabah, making their Champions League debut, caused United some trouble in the early stages and Joy-Lance Mickels spurned a genuine chance to equalize after Cunha’s opener, but the gap in quality spoke emphatically as the night wore on.
Carrick was fair in his assessment when speaking after the game, admitting that the scoreline flattered United’s night.
“It’s nice to have a clean sheet! And obviously to win the game,” he said.
“There was a lot. I thought some of our attacking play was fantastic, some of the football we played was very good, dangerous in transition. For the most part we defended very well.”
“I have to give them a lot of credit, a very tough team to play against, they play little connections and make you really work to get the ball back.
The result seems comfortable, it hasn’t always been that way. But I thought we did a lot of good things tonight that gave us a good result.”
Carrick greets Mainoo
The most eye-catching performance came from Kobbie Mainoo, who completed 81 passes in his 64 minutes on the pitch, the most by an Englishman in a Champions League game for United since Carrick himself made 89 against Olympiakos in February 2014.
“He’s a fantastic player, Kobbie, I think that’s pretty obvious to see,” Carrick said. “The way he’s performing, playing a little bit deeper, really, and connecting attacks, starting attacks.
“Having a massive influence on our games. He’s a real joy to have, he wants to learn, he wants to listen, and he expresses himself on the pitch. It’s great to see.”