Manchester United gave Michael Carrick the dream start to his interim tenure as manager on Saturday, beating Manchester City 2-0 to deal a huge blow to their local rivals’ Premier League title aspirations. Mikel Arteta’s men can open up a nine-point lead at the top when they visit Nottingham Forest later on Saturday. Harry Maguire also returned for his first start in two months and should have scored inside the first two minutes. City played a big part in their own downfall when the opening goal finally arrived 25 minutes from time. But the damage had already been done to City’s title aspirations, making victory all the sweeter for Carrick on his return to the Theatre of Dreams.

Source: The Guardian January 17, 2026 21:43 UTC