Ben Foster has singled out a key moment involving Manchester United interim head coach Michael Carrick from the 2-0 win over Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Michael Carrick was on cloud nine at the full-time whistle after the 44-year-old Manchester United legend kicked off his interim reign with an emphatic victory.
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The former Man Utd and England midfielder watched on from the Old Trafford dugout as the Red Devils outclassed Pep Guardiola’s men on Saturday afternoon.
United were dominant against Manchester City and Carrick was unfortunate not to see the Red Devils’ win have an even bigger scoreline margin on the board.
Man Utd’s sensational 2-0 win over City in the final Manchester derby of the 2025-26 campaign has kept the Red Devils’ hopes of a top-four Premier League finish alive.
Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty ImagesBen Foster singles out what Michael Carrick did before Man Utd kick-off vs Man City
Michael Carrick made the massive call to shake up his Manchester United XI on Saturday afternoon by dropping both Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
Benjamin Sesko had scored in back-to-back matches under caretaker manager Darren Fletcher ahead of Michael Carrick’s return to Old Trafford as interim head coach.
Matheus Cunha has also been a focal point of the Man Utd attack under former Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim after his stunning move from Wolves last summer.
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Speaking on his podcast, Ben Foster insisted that Carrick made a huge decision with Cunha even before the ball had been kicked in the latest Manchester derby clash.
“Do you know what? It started before the game,” he said on ‘Fozcast.’
“Michael Carrick was doing an interview with Gary Neville and, obviously, [with] Cunha being on the bench, he made a point of saying, ‘What do you think about, what’s your thinking with having Cunha on?’
“And he said, along the lines of basically, for me, the players that come on can have as much of an impact on the game as the players that start the game.
“And he’s right, you know. He is actually the finisher.”
Ben Foster on Michael Carrick dropping Matheus Cunha for Man Utd’s 2-0 win over Man City
Matheus Cunha climbed off the bench in the second half and had a meaningful impact against Manchester City after picking up an assist for Patrick Dorgu.
Foster believes that Carrick’s decision around the 26-year-old Brazilian forward paid off big time after what Cunha could offer as a key substitution in the match.
“If you can come on when your team are in a position of either level in the game or even one up and bring them good players on there who are really going to stretch it and really going to ask questions of the opposition when they’re tired, that is worth its weight in gold,” he continued.
Cunha came close to picking up a second assist in the dying stages of the Man City match after Mason Mount scored, only for the effort to be ruled as an offside.
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