Michael Carrick praises Manchester United resilience after 5-2 Old Trafford win over Ipswich
Manchester United recovered from an early deficit to beat Ipswich 5-2 at Old Trafford in a Premier League match on Sunday, a result manager Michael Carrick credited to his players' mentality. Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick as United responded to going behind during the game.
United had suffered a 2-0 opening-weekend defeat to Hull City and fell behind again when Leif Davis gave Ipswich the lead in the 29th minute, prompting memories of that earlier setback. Carrick said after the match: “You’ve got to deal with the setback. We spoke before about trying to overcome last week, and then we took a mini setback, going a goal behind.” He added: “Showing stubbornness, belief, confidence, and togetherness the boys showed at that stage was really pleasing for me. The way they bounced back, that’s probably the biggest thing to take.”
Fernandes pulled United level in the 40th minute with a powerful finish at the end of a counter-attack, converted a second-half penalty and completed his hat-trick seven minutes after the spot-kick to put his side in control. Carrick spoke of Fernandes’ influence, noting his role as captain and recent individual honours: “He means a lot to us. He’s the captain, he’s been here for a good number of years now,” Carrick said. “Times like today, when you’re looking towards certain players to give us that little bit of something, and he did that particularly well.”
Bryan Mbeumo added United’s fifth after racing onto a pass from Fernandes and lifting the ball over the Ipswich goalkeeper. Ipswich’s Chuka Akpom scored a late consolation for the visitors.
The win also represented United scoring five Premier League goals in a match for the first time since their 5-1 victory over Leeds on the opening day of the 2021-22 season, when Fernandes also recorded a hat-trick. United produced 33 shots during the game, their highest total since registering 38 against Burnley in 2016.
Carrick singled out Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo for praise, noting Rashford made his first Premier League start for United since December 2024 and Mainoo returned to the starting XI and impressed. “I thought Kobbie was immense in the middle of the pitch for us and underpinned the performance of the team,” Carrick said.
The result gave Carrick’s side their first league win of the season and a response to their opening-weekend setback. United travel to face Everton on September 6 before hosting Sabah FK in their first Champions League match on September 10 and then visit Atletico Madrid in October.
