"Hopefully this is the catalyst to show Manchester United what happens when you play with energy, spark, desire and passion," said Premier League winner Kasper Schmeichel after Michael Carrick's side staged a second-half comeback against Roma in the Champions League.

The 3-2 win at Old Trafford, thanks to Bruno Fernandes' penalty and Matheus Cunha's brace, brought an end to the club's nine-game winless run in all competitions.

"This is what we were talking about them needing," Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily. "They needed a spark.

"Don't get me wrong, I do think they got a bit lucky because I'm not sure it was a penalty and then they got the retake, but you need that luck sometimes because that was the spark to set it all off.

"One bright spark in these dark periods has been Matheus Cunha. He is a boyhood Manchester United fan and you can tell how much it means to him. He did get sent off, but at least he is doing something.

"I said at half-time that if you're going to go down, you've got to go down fighting. You can accept losing if you've given absolutely everything, but they hadn't done in that first half.

"The great thing about it for Michael Carrick is that he now has something to refer to. Now, if there is a difficult situation, he can say: 'Look, I know what you can do when you apply yourselves in the right manner'.

"Once you add good football players with heart and application, you're going to get results."