Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has hailed goalkeeper Radek Vitek for his brilliant performance in the 5-0 victory over Rosenborg.
United win
Six days after falling to a narrow loss at the hands of Wrexham, Carrick and his players made amends by delivering a five-star performance against Rosenborg in Norway.
Shea Lacey opened the scoring at the half-hour mark with a brilliant curling effort after he was sent through on goal by Joshua Zirkzee. The Dutch striker then turned from provider to scorer as he carved open the Rosenborg defence with some fine bits of skill to make it 2-0.
Lovely from Lacey 👌⚽️
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 24, 2026
What. A. Goal. 😍
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 24, 2026
With the game all but wrapped up, Carrick made wholesale personnel changes and brought in several youngsters. The decision paid off handsomely.
Jacob Devaney capitalised on the loose ball with the quickest reaction, applying the finishing touch to extend United’s lead to three goals.
⏰ Right time 🤝 Right place 📍
Well played, JD! 🫶
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 24, 2026
Jaydan Kamason then teed up fellow full-back Harry Amass, who slid in to tap the ball home. Kamason again showcased his attacking instincts, this time executing some fine work on the right before assisting Ethan Williams.
From right-back to left-back ⚡️
Well in, Harry! 🫡
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 24, 2026
There were several standout performers but one was singled out by Carrick – Vitek.
Carrick’s remarks
Carrick told MUTV about the performance, “Clean sheet, scoring goals, and everyone, by the looks of it, coming through injury-free is what you want at this stage, really. As much as we want everything to improve and performances to be better all the time, I think keeping players fit and progressing through pre-season is as important as anything.”
“So, two games in, two weeks in, I think we can take where we are and we’re pretty happy. The second half, the younger players coming on, I thought they were fantastic. They played as a team really well and deserve what they got second half.”
“It’s important to build through this pre-season, some players need more minutes than others as they go and we’re managing some players a little bit more than others. I’ve said it before the game, it’s never going to be perfect, two weeks in and you’re kind of building towards that.”
“So, I thought there was a lot of good things, some of the goals were fantastic goals and it’s just as pleasing to keep a clean sheet. So yeah, we’re moving forward nicely.”
Carrick insisted that he was left impressed with the performance of the youngsters.
“This is the best place to be as a footballer when you’re in that zone and you’re confident and that’s obviously my job to try and get the players in that frame of mind. The senior players at this stage, they’re finding their way, but you can see they’re in a good place and kind of getting used to having good results over a period of time, which is good.”
“The younger players, when you see them expressing themselves and being themselves and keep pushing themselves to be better, I think some of the play second half was really, really good. I was delighted to see that from them, because you hope that. They’ve all got potential in different ways, and you want them to fulfil it and keep pushing themselves and they certainly did that.”
On Vitek, he remarked, “Radek got good minutes, just over 70, so really pleased with what he did today and Derm [Mee] coming on towards the end was nice to get him on the pitch.”
Solid between the sticks ⛔️
Well played, Radek! 🧤🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/VBQzRqNhWB
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 24, 2026
“I thought we defended pretty well as a team for the most part, a couple of little bits earlier on we had to work out, but I thought we defended well as a team and protected the goalkeepers largely, but yeah, clean sheets are a beautiful thing!”
“I think we’re in a good place. I think there’s four weeks to go to the start and we’re gradually getting some boys back from the World Cup as we progress. But I think a little bit of patience and time and trying to keep ahead and as I said, keeping everyone fit but moving forward is a really good direction to go in.”
“And as it stands right now, I think we’re in a pretty good place. So, the boys will get better as we go.”
United are next in action next Saturday when they face Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
Featured image George Wood via Getty Images
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