Michael Carrick was spotted telling Matheus Cunha to leave the pitch immediately after the final whistle in Manchester United’s comeback victory over AS Roma.

The Brazil international scored twice as United fought back from two goals behind to win 3-2 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. After Bruno Fernandes’ penalty, Cunha pounced on a defensive error to level the contest before firing home a winner on 86 minutes.

The former Wolves star removed his shirt and leapt into the crowd in celebration, earning himself a booking. A second yellow followed in injury time for an overzealous challenge as United held on.

Cunha slowly trudged around the perimeter of the pitch as he made his way to the tunnel, desperate to see the final minutes of the match play out.

He briefly disappeared down the tunnel before reemerging to join the post-match celebrations after the final whistle had blown.

But TV cameras picked up Carrick appearing to tell his player to go straight to the dressing room with Cunha seen pleading with his boss on the pitch. The unhappy Brazilian eventually made his way back down the tunnel, flanked by a club official.

IFAB rules, which also govern Champions League matches, state that a player who has been sent off ‘must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area’ and cannot return, even after the full-time whistle has been blown.

Cunha is set to miss United’s next Champions League match away to Sporting CP on 25 November.

Victory handed Carrick a lifeline with United’s focus now shifting to Aston Villa on Sunday.

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‘At half-time, I was wanting them to be more positive, if anything, and not get too disappointed and frustrated,’ said Carrick.

‘When you keep trying to do something, the easiest thing is feeling sorry for yourself. If something goes wrong, you get disappointed. That’s not going to help anybody. We might as well all go home if that’s the case. We’ve got to keep looking for the next moment, the next solution.

‘I don’t like to keep talking to the lads about what this place can do and the history and what’s gone before too much, but it’s there.

‘This place does magical things, it’s done it before and it’ll do it over and over again at some point in the future. There’s just something in this place that when we do have these types of nights, we do it the hard way.

‘But one moment can flip the whole place in a different direction. I spoke about that with the boys. Let’s have one moment that can trigger it. And we had that.’