Carrick stuns Gunners to blow title race open

ARSENALS charge towards a first English Premier League title in 22 years was halted by Manchester United's stunning 3-2 victory at the Emirates on Sunday, pulling Manchester City and Aston Villa back into the title race.

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City and Villa, who beat Wolves and Newcastle 2-0 respectively this past weekend, are now just four points behind the Gunners. United's victory also lifted them into the Top 4 at Liverpool’s expense after the defending champions’ long unbeaten run came undone at Bournemouth.

Here, we look at three talking points from the weekend:

Carrick magic transforms Red Devils

Michael Carrick looked to have been handed a baptism of fire with Manchester City and Arsenal dished up in the first two games of his reign. The former Red Devils midfielder returned to Old Trafford to take over a side that had won just once in seven matches.

But Carrick has delivered two memorable victories that will already spark speculation over whether the 44-year-old deserves to remain in the role beyond the end of the season. United were lured into that trap once before when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s brilliant start to his interim role as manager in 2019 earned him a three-year deal.