Michael Carrick said Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United was evidence of progress, despite the result extending their run without a victory to six matches in all competitions.
Bryan Mbeumo gave United the lead in the 35th minute against their old rivals at Elland Road, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin levelled shortly after half-time.
Leeds created the better opportunities in the second half and finished with an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.44 compared with United’s 0.91. However, they were unable to find the goal that would have completed the comeback.
United have not won in six games since beating Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League early in September. Their wait for a Premier League victory has reached five matches.
Their only league win this season came at home against Ipswich Town, leaving them with a record of D4 L2 after seven matches. It is their fewest number of wins at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1986-87, when they also had one victory after seven games in the old First Division.
Asked by Sky Sports whether the performance represented a step forward, Carrick said: “It definitely was. If there’s any weakness, it gets found out today.
“I could feel before the game that the players were ready for it. It wasn’t perfect. Our confidence isn’t sky-high, but the players were trying to do the right things.
“In moments, we looked really good. We defended really well as a team. Credit to Daniel [Farke] and his team. They are a very good side.
“They test you and ask a lot of questions. If you are not ready for it, you get found out, and I thought the boys stood up to it.”
The match was the 19th Premier League meeting in which Manchester United had scored first against Leeds. It was only the third of those games to end with United being pegged back and failing to win, following 1-1 draws in March 2001 and February 2004.
Harry Maguire gave a less positive appraisal of United’s performance, highlighting their difficulty in playing through Leeds’ midfield.
“We worked on it this week. We wanted to match them up without the ball and go quite aggressive,” Maguire said. “It was a back five without the ball and a four with the ball.
“We knew we could get a lot of joy in the middle of the pitch with them only playing two in there.
“That’s probably the area of the game where we could’ve done more. We could’ve been a bit braver with the ball and taken the ball under pressure.
“But we’re in a circumstance where we are not as brave as we should be, and we have to get that back because to win games for Man Utd we have to have that bravery and composure.”
Manchester United travel to Cesc Fabregas’ Como in the Champions League on Wednesday before hosting Bournemouth in the Premier League four days later.
