Michael Carrick hits back at Gary Neville comments amid Manchester United criticism

Lisandro Martinez’s own goal had set them on their way to what looked to be a dismal defeat in west London, where Alvaro Arbeloa was hoping to secure his first Premier League win as the Cottagers’ boss.

However, he saw his dreams dashed in the dying embers as Cunha’s effort ricocheted fortuitously off David Affengruber to hand United an undeserved share of the spoils.

It leaves them 12th in the table, and follows a premature Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Brighton and a controversial Manchester derby defeat to Manchester City last weekend.

Under pressure: Michael Carrick

PA

Carrick, however, wanted to focus on the positives of his side’s performance, which improved marginally in the second period, and even more so after they fell behind.

“[A bad run] was always going to come at some point,” he admitted post-match.

“(The 2-2 draw) at Everton, a 25-yard shot finds the top corner, with City, that’s not a goal. Today, an own goal is one of those things. It’s pretty fine margins that have flipped it as well. I know we can do better. We need to do better. At the same time, I’m not disappointed with that, we showed some good signs.”

Saviour Cunha told Sky Sports that he felt he and his team-mates had been outrun by their hosts, but Carrick disagreed with the Brazilian’s verdict.

“The way we finished the game, it didn’t look like [we had been outrun],” he continued.

“I thought we finished really strong and kept pushing.”

Going into the three-week international break, United remain mired in mid-table. Their next outing will come next month, when they host struggling Tottenham at Old Trafford on October 10.