Carrick calls for calm after first Man Utd defeat

Michael Carrick pledged Manchester United will learn from their defeat to 10-man Newcastle United, saying it was not the time for knee-jerk reactions after his first loss at the helm.

United looked to be in the ascendancy at half-time in Wednesday's game at St James' Park, following a chaotic stint of first-half stoppage time.

Newcastle saw Jacob Ramsey sent off for two bookings – the second of which was for simulation – but still hit the front through Anthony Gordon's penalty, only for Casemiro to equalise in the ninth additional minute.

But the Red Devils were unable to make their numerical superiority count in the second half, only managing two shots on target after the break.

Those efforts – from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee – drew excellent saves from Aaron Ramsdale, and Newcastle then won it 2-1 on the break through William Osula's sensational 90th-minute curler.

United could have few complaints about the result, having lost the expected goals (xG) battle both overall (1.28 to 2.22) and while a man up in the second half (0.65 to 0.97).

And that was the way Carrick saw it, telling TNT Sports: "We are not happy with the way we played tonight. The way the game panned out, it was largely in our hands.

"But credit to Newcastle. With the way they approached it, we knew it would be tough, and we navigated the game to a position where we could kick on, but we didn't. We're bitterly disappointed."

United have now lost two of their last three Premier League games when their opponents have received a first-half red card (one win), having won 20 and drawn three of their first 23 such matches in the competition.

But Carrick did not feel the challenge of playing against 10 men changed things for his team, saying: "I don't think it was the 10 men, we just didn't play well enough. We can't make excuses for that. We all take responsibility for that.

"It was just the quality of the performance, it wasn't a lack of character or wanting to win. It's easy to throw that out there just because you didn't win a game of football.

"Newcastle deserved to win tonight, it hurts me to say that. That is how it was. We need to get back to work and be better for the next game."

Having been knocked out of the FA Cup, United have 11 days of rest before facing Aston Villa on March 15, having missed a golden chance to pull clear in the race for a top-four finish, following chastening defeats for both Unai Emery's men and Liverpool.

"We've lost one game," Carrick said. "We haven't played well enough but, in the grand scheme of things, we are in a decent position. Tonight hurts, but we will be better for the next one.

"You have to get back at it, work hard and do the things we did to win the games we've won. We can do that, we are a good team, tonight just wasn't for us.

"We have to learn from it. We've had a lot of praise lately and the boys deserve it; this doesn't change how we approach the next game. We've got everything to play for."