Man Utd scored a 96th-minute equaliser at West Ham, but they were only still in the game because some late counterattacks for the hosts were thwarted.
Leny Yoro produced a couple of key defensive moments against West Ham
Michael Carrick praised the quality of Leny Yoro’s one-on-one defending for giving Manchester United the opportunity to snatch a vital point at West Ham, with Benjamin Sesko netting a 96th-minute equaliser.
Yoro came on for Harry Maguire at the same time as Sesko replaced Matheus Cunha, with a quarter of the game remaining at the London Stadium. West Ham had a couple of big chances on the break to double their lead, but 20-year-old Yoro produced two key blocks to keep his team in the game.
It was the first time he had made it on the pitch in Carrick’s five games in charge but his contributions proved vital when Sesko’s brilliant finish earned the point that extended the unbeaten run and Carrick was quick to praise the centre-back after the game.
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Carrick also threw Joshua Zirkzee on for the final nine minutes as he threw caution to the wind and although he knew that would leave United exposed, he was happy to take the gamble.
“It’s always worth it to try and get something out of the game,” he said. “I have to give credit to Leny. I thought his two bits of defending, one-vs-one, defending the counterattack, which we knew he was going to have to do at times, throwing the bodies forward. I thought those two moments when he blocked shots were huge.
“He deserves a lot of credit for that, to give us the chance to then go and get the goal that got something out of the game. We had moments, Josh had a chance, obviously Casamiro had the [disallowed goal], which I’ve not seen, but must have been close and then big moment for Ben. We had to go for it, we had to try and get something out of the game.”
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Carrick’s winning run in charge of United came to an end against the Hammers and he admitted to mixed feelings after the game, but could see the positives, especially with another show as his side scored in the final 15 minutes of a game for the fifth time in a row.
“Mixed feelings, we know we weren’t quite at our best, I think credit to West Ham, a little bit of closing certain spaces up, but I think we can be better, the boys are a bit frustrated and disappointed with that, which is a really good sign for me,” he said.
“Then finishing with a late goal when we’ve had to find one is a good moment and another positive for us to know that we can do that. We don’t want to have to pull on it and use it too often but I think in the grand scheme I think there’s points we can take and we kind of dust ourselves down a little bit, assess it, take these games over a five game period and to just have one draw in there I think is a big positive so mixed feelings really.”
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