"We talked about what we wanted to do in the game," Carrick explained to Amazon Prime Sport. "We started OK and then the goal came from nowhere. We caused ourselves a few issues. In some ways understandable with the run we've been on, a little bit anxious and a few nerves at times."

Youri Tielemans was a forced change shortly after the break, after a concerning injury to Carlos Baleba shortly after the players stepped back onto the pitch. United were a different beast from that point on.

Bruno Fernandes was allowed a second chance from the penalty spot, after encroachment was spotted on his first attempt that was saved. Old Trafford was bouncing.

A late Matheus Cunha brace sent that stadium into raptures, but for Carrick, he was determined to delve deep on the game being played and remain positive, at a time when he had every right to row with his players, knowing his job could have been on the line.

"Then I thought we grew into the game a bit at the end of the first half and I spoke at half-time about being positive. Anything can happen here, I've seen it many times over the years. You just need something to go our way and the boys were fantastic second half.

"They kept going, didn't get disappointed and got exactly what they deserved in the end."

"We gave them other opportunities to score and it was close, and you're thinking 'that's another chance gone by' but we kept looking, kept pushing for answers and we found them in the end."

And addressing his future, which had been precarious going into the European tie, he added: "I don't have a crystal ball to know what happens next. We move on to the weekend, we've got a really important game here against Aston Villa, which we need to prepare for right."