A dramatic night at Old Trafford on Tuesday brought much-needed relief to Michael Carrick and his players, who came back from two goals down to beat AS Roma 3-2 in the Champions League.
Matheus Cunha won a penalty just before the hour mark to bring United back into the game before scoring a late brace.
The Brazilian capped off the wild outing by getting sent off in stoppage time, which led to an exchange that raised a few eyebrows.
What Michael Carrick told Matheus Cunha
Matheus Cunha received a yellow card for removing his shirt and jumping into the crowd after scoring the winner.
Minutes later, the 27-year-old was shown a second yellow for a late tackle.
At the full-time whistle, TV cameras spotted an exchange between Michael Carrick and Cunha, who was seemingly unhappy.
On his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano said: “There were rumors over the recent weeks about problems between Cunha and Michael Carrick, but Cunha today reacts.”
Then Romano detailed what happened between the pair on Tuesday: “Many of you asked me what happened in the final seconds of the game, when basically the game was over and Michael Carrick went to speak to Cunha. He told him something during the celebrations after the game.
“According to my information, Carrick just wanted Cunha not to get involved in any trouble. He already got a red card and he didn’t want the situation to get worse, so he told Cunha, ‘Let’s go in the dressing room.’ So it was nothing negative, no problems between them.”
Cunha apparently wanted to celebrate with his teammates, but Carrick instructed him to leave the pitch alongside a member of staff.
A player who has been sent off is not allowed to remain on the field of play or in the technical area.
Accordingly, Carrick simply told the star attacker to return to the dressing room in order to avoid being hit with further action from UEFA.
Featured image by Carl Recine via Getty Images
