Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has praised Michael Carrick for helping inspire the club’s second-half fightback against Roma in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage.
Manchester United overturned a two-goal half-time deficit to win 3-2 at home, ending a nine-game winless streak in the process.
Bruno Fernandes reduced the arrears from the penalty spot before Matheus Cunha scored twice to complete the turnaround. Rooney believes Carrick’s half-time message played a major part in changing the match.
“I think Carrick deserves a lot of credit too. If you were in his position, you would definitely be thinking about how to turn things around,” Rooney said.
“Whatever he said to the team at halftime made the players play more proactively in the second half and made them believe they could win the game.
“You could feel it, you could feel they had a chance to win, and everyone was united.”
Manchester United had been unable to win in their previous nine matches, but their response after the interval against Roma secured a result that appeared unlikely at half-time.
Rooney said Carrick deserved recognition for the way the players reacted, particularly after going into the break two goals behind.
