Fernandes retake and late Cunha brace power United to 3-2 Champions League win over Roma at Old Trafford
Manchester United recovered from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford in the Champions League on 4 November 2026, a night that featured a retaken penalty by Bruno Fernandes and two late goals from Matheus Cunha. The comeback has intensified debate about whether the result eases pressure on head coach Michael Carrick.
The match turned after VAR Carlos del Cerro Grande intervened when Bryan Cristante’s foot touched the Roma penalty area as Fernandes took his initial spot-kick; that first penalty was missed, the retake was converted, and Cunha scored twice in the final seven minutes. Cunha was sent off soon after his second goal, a development that left a nervy finish, but United secured their first win in 10. Legendary United figures Wayne Rooney and Nicky Butt had criticised the first-half display while covering the game for Amazon Prime.
Carrick described his half-time message as an attempt to lift the players’ mindset rather than dwell on the club’s history, saying: "At half-time, I was wanting them to be more positive if anything, and not get too disappointed and frustrated. The easiest thing is when you keep trying to do something is feeling sorry for yourself. If something goes wrong, you get disappointed. That's not going to help anybody. We might as well all go home if that's the case. We've got to keep looking for the next moment, the next solution." He added: "But one moment can flip the whole place in a different direction. I spoke about that with the boys. Let's have one moment that can trigger it. And we had that."
Rooney praised Carrick after the win, saying: "I think Michael Carrick deserves a lot of credit," and added: "Whatever he said to the team at half-time, that got them on the front foot and got that belief in them that they could win the game." The article recalled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s own recent experience being dismissed after a poor half-time position, quoting him: "I knew at half-time against Watford ... At half-time, I told the players it was probably going to be the last time we worked together." Carrick had been on the bench as one of Solskjaer's coaches.
The victory did not erase off-field unrest: "green and gold" protests took place before kick-off and during the first half, and there were chants against the Glazer family, minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and director of football Jason Wilcox. Chief executive Omar Berrada and Wilcox were noted as looking "much happier at the final whistle than they had done midway through the first half." The piece warned that past rapid reversals of fortune at United offer no guarantees, noting wins followed by heavy defeats in previous regimes.
Pundits were split on the performance but positive about the recovery. Kasper Schmeichel said: "I said at half-time if you're going to go down, go down fighting. You can accept losing if you've given absolutely everything... They didn't do that in the first half, but they did in the second half." The article also noted internal tensions, stating that Lisandro Martinez and Fernandes had been publicly critical in recent weeks, and quoted Stephen Warnock: "What's happened is Manchester United have gone in, a vulnerable team, a team lacking in confidence, they've gone 2-0 down - now what's the reaction? ... It's a perfect night for Michael Carrick."
Carrick reflected on the penalty miss and on Fernandes's composure, saying: "I didn't chuckle, I didn't smile, I wasn't happy about it... But it felt almost like 'there's another moment'. ... I have to say, for Bruno to double take that penalty - to have the mentality and finish like that - he deserves a lot of credit." He also admitted the result did not bring personal relief: "Genuinely, no. I don't. Really, I don't... It was more I was genuinely pleased for the players. I know how much they care, I know what they're giving."
"I don't have a crystal ball to know what happens next," Carrick told Amazon Prime, adding: "We move on to the weekend. We've got a really important game here against Aston Villa, which we need to prepare for."
