Michael Carrick has made a compelling case for Man Utd to rip up their manager plan

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With his knee bloodied after another tangle with Erling Haaland, Harry Maguire limped back into his own penalty area to help defend the free-kick he had conceded.

Moments later, he was producing a towering header to set up the counter-attack that ended with Bryan Mbeumo giving Michael Carrick a dream start to his 17-game Manchester United audition .

The dream start became fantasy as Patrick Dorgu doubled the delirium before Old Trafford was treated to the symbolic sight of Haaland’s misery being ended by Pep Guardiola . For United, that was just one beautiful moment on a beautiful afternoon.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in town and one match into his tenure, Carrick has already made a compelling case to get the gig for next season. Seriously.

And Maguire’s performance magnificently typified the response Carrick got from Manchester United ’s players. Quite simply, they were more aggressive, more determined, more passionate, more committed than a Manchester City team that, at times, looked as though they did not believe a serious title race was still in progress.

United were fantastic, City were a pale imitation of themselves. As belligerent and as bold as Maguire and his team-mates were, Guardiola’s men were meek and weak.

The lamentable defending that gifted Dorgu United’s second goal had been a constant theme throughout the contest. City enjoyed just under 70 percent of the possession - and did precisely nothing with it. Gianluigi Donnarumma was City’s best player, telling you all you need to know.

But this was all about United’s vibrancy and desire under their new manager. If Carrick wanted a reaction in terms of aggression, he certainly got it. But it should have come at a cost, Diogo Dalot’s knee-high stamp on Jeremy Doku seemingly a no-brainer for VAR Craig Pawson to upgrade to a red.

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It seems Pawson believed there was not sufficient intent, which was odd considering the United full-back was clearly not trying to stamp on the ball, which had long disappeared. And the official explanation was that the contact was glancing. So there you have it, Dalot needs to make better contact when he is trying to injure someone next time.

Yes, as everyone keeps saying, VAR is here to stay but those operating the system are not helping themselves right now.

If Dalot’s misdemeanour was a negative trait of United’s commitment, there was an absolute welter of positives. There was a simpler, faster, more direct approach to United’s style, the emphasis being on getting it out to wide areas quickly.

And while City, predictably, had the majority of the ball, United were always the more dangerous side, with Maguire heading against the crossbar and Mbeumo half-asleep when presented with a sitter. There were also two efforts - from Amad and from Bruno Fernandes - that were ruled out by narrow offside verdicts.

City might have had a touch more panache, United had more passion. In fact, Carrick spent a good deal of the proceedings urging his players to calm down. But as long as Dalot kept a lid on his antics, there was no need to calm down. United were full of zest, City were almost bizarrely subdued.

Guardiola clearly was not happy with what he was watching and withdrew Phil Foden and Max Alleyne at the break. But the introduction of Rayan Cherki and Nico O’Reilly did not give City the injection of urgency they needed.

Not far off an hour had elapsed before Haaland made his first meaningful contribution, a shot blocked by Lisandro Martinez. To put it in basic terms, Haaland had an awful game. Pretty much every time the ball reached Haaland, it was surrendered and in the end, Guardiola raised the white flag for him.

To say the entire City team raised the white flag would be harsh. It would certainly do United an injustice. It would certainly do Carrick an injustice.

And if Sir Jim replaced that short-term deal with a proper one right now, you would not blame him.

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