There was little doubt that if Man Utd had failed to beat Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday night, Michael Carrick’s job would’ve been hanging by a thread come Wednesday morning.
With just the one league game, against Aston Villa at Old Trafford, before another international break, Carrick still isn’t out of the woods, and if the United hierarchy are going to act, then when better time to do so than when club football takes a back seat.
UEFA Champions League
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Cunha’s priceless goals
However, somewhat belatedly, United’s underperforming stars produced a result that could hand the manager a reprieve at the 11th hour.
It’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that the performance was anything other than acceptable, though coming from two goals down to win 3-2, and when you’re really up against it, deserves praise.
As it turned out, the Red Devils owed much to Matheus Cunha, as the Brazilian’s two late goals flipped this match on its head.
Cunha blotted his copybook with two yellow cards that led to a red during injury time, though Carrick and the club are likely to turn a blind eye to that given what had gone before.
See all the information from the match here.
Super individual showing
The number 10 enjoyed himself in the game, and his nine touches in the Roma box were more than anyone from either side.
Four shots at goal were the joint-most in the match, whilst the three on target couldn’t be bettered either.
Only Bruno Fernandes and Rodrigo Mora created more than Cunha’s two chances, though oddly enough, Matias Soule and Bryan Mbeumo were the only two players to have a worse pass completion than the Portuguese’s 75.8 per cent.
Soule equalled Cunha’s six attempted dribbles on the night, but completed only one to the United man’s four, the best showing on either side.
In terms of one-on-ones, no one could match the 19 that the matchwinner attempted, nor did anyone come close to winning the 10 that he did.
Even in a defensive sense, there were just three players to attempt more than Cunha’s three tackles, whilst three fouls won for his team were the joint-most, along with Carlos Baleba.
The red card was needless because after being yellow-carded for jumping in the crowd when celebrating the winner, he had little need to go flying into a late tackle that might’ve earned a direct red on another night.
Cunha has had a great start to 2026/27
It shouldn’t take away from his match-winning showing, though, and Cunha is one of the few players who can arguably also be absolved of blame during this wretched United run.
He’s one of only two players (Mbeumo being the other) who have played in all 14 United games in 2026/27, and both share second spot in the squad in terms of goals scored (four). Bruno Fernandes’ five places him at the summit of this particular metric.
A 65% shooting accuracy could be considered to be the best in the squad, as the two players who have a slightly higher percentage – Lisandro Martinez (66.67 per cent) and Joshua Zirkzee (80 per cent) have had only 18 total shots between them, scoring twice, compared to Cunha’s 28 total shots and four goals.
The Portuguese is the one United player to have bagged a brace this season, and his two headed efforts are just one behind Harry Maguire and Mbeumo, whose three put them at the top.
With two of his three big chances scored (66.67 per cent), he can hold his head high once more, knowing that Martinez (one from one) and Benjamin Sesko (two from two) are the two players with a 100 per cent record, and who have pushed him into the bronze medal position.
114 one-on-ones attempted is also the third-best showing in the United squad, and 40 ball recoveries have him in the pack.
A tackle success rate of 66.67 per cent is an outstanding return, with just three players (Fernandes, Martinez and Amad Diallo) posting a higher percentage.
A player who has put in a shift each time he’s been called upon
In fact, the only area where he’s performed well below many of his club colleagues is with regard to his heading, having won just three of 13 attempted headed duels.
An area that he’s never been known for in any event; it would be a little unfair to be too critical, given what else he brings to the team.
Whether his excellence and that of one or two of his teammates will ultimately be enough to keep Carrick in gainful employment in the Old Trafford dugout will be seen over the next few weeks.
Should the axe fall, at least any new incumbent can be satisfied that in Matheus Cunha, they have one of the most willing players in the squad, and one who will defend the interests of the club as though his life depended on it.
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
