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<\/p>\n
In an incredible finale, Raul Jimenez\u2019s penalty with five minutes left gave Fulham hope before Kevin\u2019s wonder-goal hauled the visitors level in stoppage-time. <\/p>\n
To United\u2019s immense credit, they hit straight back as the much-maligned Sesko\u2019s fourth goal in his last four games sealed Carrick\u2019s third successive victory. <\/p>\n
After masterminding surprise wins over Manchester City and Premier League leaders Arsenal, this remarkable encounter suggested former United midfielder Carrick might have the Midas touch. <\/p>\n
Unbeaten in their last seven league matches, United moved up to fourth place as their bid to qualify for next season\u2019s Champions League gathers pace. <\/p>\n
Reaching the Champions League would be a significant statement for Carrick, who was sacked by second-tier Middlesbrough last year. <\/p>\n
Only once in Amorim\u2019s turbulent 14-month reign did United win three games in a row and Carrick has matched that run within weeks of his appointment until the end of the season. <\/p>\n
United\u2019s hierarchy may have to consider hiring Carrick on a permanent if their former midfielder can continue his impressive run. <\/p>\n
Whether that is enough to appease the 1958 Manchester United fans group is another matter after they staged a protest against the owners outside Old Trafford before kick-off. <\/p>\n
Hundreds of fans, some wearing clown masks, gathered to express their frustration with United\u2019s decline under the Glazer family and the lack of improvement since co-owner Jim Ratcliffe took charge of football operations. <\/p>\n
The group claimed United are \u201cbeing dragged through chaos by clown ownership\u201d and are \u201crun like a circus\u201d. <\/p>\n
Fans chanted against the owners and held aloft banners as flares filled the air on Sir Matt Busby Way.<\/p>\n
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 01: Luke Shaw of Manchester United celebrates victory with teammate Lisandro Martinez during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford on February 01, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
– United seize control – <\/p>\n
When the smoke cleared, Carrick\u2019s intuition paid off as he brought Cunha into the starting line-up to replace the injured Patrick Dorgu after the Brazilian scored the winner at Arsenal last weekend. <\/p>\n
Only Arsenal had taken more points than in-form Fulham over the previous eight games, but United found the formula to end that strong spell. <\/p>\n
United thought they had won a penalty for Jorge Cuenca\u2019s foul on Cunha. But a VAR check showed the offence took place just outsidethe area. It was only a temporary reprieve for Fulham as United took the lead from the resulting free-kick in the 19th minute. <\/p>\n
Bruno Fernandes swung his delivery to the far post and Casemiro rose highest to thump a towering header past Bernd Leno.<\/p>\n
United struck again in the 56th minute with Cunha\u2019s sixth goal this season. It was a goal made in Brazil as Casemiro\u2019s clever no-lookpass found Cunha inside the Fulham area and he smashed a fine finish past Leno from an acute angle. <\/p>\n
Fulham were controversially denied a lifeline when VAR disallowed Cuenca\u2019s 65th minute goal.<\/p>\n
Samuel Chukwueze was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins when he prodded Jimenez\u2019s free-kick to Cuenca.<\/p>\n
But United were wobbling and Jimenez converted an 85th minute penalty after the Mexican was fouled by Maguire. <\/p>\n
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 01: Michael Carrick, Manager of Manchester United applauds the fans after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford on February 01, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
United looked to have collapsed in stoppage-time when Kevin cut in from the right wing and curled a sublime strike into the farcorner from the edge of the area. <\/p>\n
Two minutes after Kevin\u2019s leveller, United showed their spirit as Sesko took Fernandes\u2019 pass and drilled high into the net from 12 yards to spark wild celebrations.<\/p>\n
A third consecutive win since Michael Carrick took the reins at Old Trafford propelled United back into the top four at the expense of Chelsea and Liverpool.<\/p>\n
A week on from a 3-2 win at Arsenal, it was another throwback to United\u2019s glory days during Carrick\u2019s playing career as they snatched victory in dramatic fashion after a Fulham fightback.<\/p>\n
Goals from Casemiro and Matheus Cunha either side of half-time put United in command.<\/p>\n
Just a second defeat in nine league games dealt a blow to Fulham\u2019s own hopes of European football next season.<\/p>\n
The visitors showed plenty of fight as Raul Jimenez\u2019s penalty five minutes from time began a frantic finale before Kevin\u2019s spectacular strike looked to have salvaged a point.<\/p>\n
But United went straight down the other end and Sesko spun onto Bruno Fernandes\u2019 pass before blasting into the top corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling I have to say,\u201d Carrick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the best moments I\u2019ve been part of here, you can dissect performances and there are plusses and not, and then you get a moment of elation and excitement like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 01: Dominic Solanke of Tottenham Hotspur scores his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 01, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
CITY\u2019S TITLE CHANCES DEALT MAJOR BLOW AFTER FREAK GOAL<\/p>\n
Manchester City\u2019s Premier League title challenge hit a fresh stumbling block as Dominic Solanke\u2019s acrobatic strike salvaged a 2-2 draw for struggling Tottenham on Sunday, while Benjamin Sesko secured another thrilling 3-2 win for Manchester United over Fulham.<\/p>\n
City were cruising towards what would have been another damaging defeat for Spurs boss Thomas Frank as they led 2-0 at half-time.<\/p>\n
But Solanke scored twice in the second half to leave Pep Guardiola\u2019s men six points adrift of leaders Arsenal.<\/p>\n
City have won just one of their six league games in 2026 to allow the Gunners to move closer to a first title in 22 years.<\/p>\n
Rayan Cherki fired the visitors into an early lead and was only denied a spectacular second by a brilliant Guglielmo Vicario save.<\/p>\n
Antoine Semenyo did double City\u2019s advantage before the break to spark uproar from the furious Spurs support at half-time.<\/p>\n
However, Tottenham flipped the script in the second period to give Frank some breathing space.<\/p>\n
Solanke\u2019s absence for most of the season due to injury has played a major part in Spurs\u2019 struggles.<\/p>\n
The England international\u2019s finish from close range halved the deficit before he produced a stunning moment of athleticism to hook the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma with a scorpion kick.<\/p>\n
VILLA\u2019S TITLE DREAMS END<\/p>\n
To cap a fine day for Arsenal, third-placed Aston Villa were beaten 1-0 at home by 10-man Brentford to remain seven points off the top.<\/p>\n
Kevin Schade was sent off for kicking out at Matty Cash on 42 minutes. But in first-half stoppage time, the Bees took the lead when Dango Ouattara blasted in from a narrow angle.<\/p>\n
Villa laid siege to the Brentford goal after the break but lacked the invention to break the visitors down.<\/p>\n
Tammy Abraham did have the ball in the net but was denied a debut goal on his return to Villa after a VAR review found the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.<\/p>\n
Crystal Palace also failed to make the most of a man advantage in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n
Morgan Gibbs-White\u2019s early strike put Forest in front, but Neco Williams\u2019 decision to punch the ball clear off his own goal-line just before half-time was the break the visitors needed.<\/p>\n
Ismaila Sarr netted from the penalty spot after Williams was shown a red card. However, Palace failed to end their 12-game wait for a win and remain just three points above Forest and nine clear of the bottom three.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick extended his perfect start as Benjamin Sesko\u2019s stoppage-time strike sealed a pulsating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63,689,12045,56809,62966,233702,233709,34681,233706,1208,2057,122482,182168,6246,233705,233711,43,67609,1613,122233,11999,6255,211654,233704,673,44,3583,677,1614,233708,233707,233703,233712,46409,231815,2639,52697,233713,41,39,42,40,233710],"class_list":["post-452449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-benjamin-sesko","tag-breathing-space","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-chelsea-amp-west-ham","tag-chelsea-ampamp-west-ham","tag-crystal-palace-football-club","tag-debut-goal","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-european-football","tag-first-half-stoppage-time","tag-football-news","tag-fresh-stumbling","tag-gasp-winner","tag-headlines","tag-league-games","tag-liverpool","tag-man-advantage","tag-manchester-city-football-club","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-michael-carrick","tag-neco-williams","tag-new-south-wales","tag-news","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-premier-league","tag-raul-jimenez","tag-rocks-title-race","tag-scorpion-kick","tag-scorpion-kick-goal","tag-stoppage-time","tag-tammy-abraham","tag-thomas-h-frank","tag-title-challenge","tag-title-dreams","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-worldie-rocks-title"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}