Manchester United caretaker boss Carrick defends cautious approach at Villarreal

Manchester United caretaker coach Michael Carrick has defended his side's approach in the crucial Champions League tie against Villarreal.

United defeated the Yellow Submarine 0-2 at the Estadio de la Ceramica to book their place in the Champions League round of 16 with a game to spare.

Two late second half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho handed Carrick his first win as United boss after he replaced the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday.

However, the scoreline didn't reflect most of the game as the host dominated proceedings against their more illustrious opponents.

The visitors had their goalkeeper David de Gea to thank as the Spaniard kept them in the game, making three outstanding saves to deny Villarreal, who dominated the opening half.

Carrick, however, has come out defend his side's approach and praise his boys for digging in to ensure the pressure will be off heading into the final group game against Young Boys at Old Trafford in a fortnight.

"We came here to win the game. I believed we would, I believed we were ready for it tonight," Carrick told BT Sports moments after the game.

"It wasn’t an easy game, they’re a tough team. They make you work. I thought the boys dug in tonight – they had to at times.”

"I don’t think we could have hoped to come here and play pretty football. When you’ve suffered results-wise and you’re not in great form individually and as a team, it’s not easy to make everything click. In many ways, this was the best way to win for me. The subs made a massive impact.”

After a difficult few days at the club, Carrick is thankful that his side got the job done in Spain.

"It’s not been an easy couple of days for everyone at the club. This result feels like it’s for Ole [Gunnar Solskjær] and I can’t get away from that. We had a job to do and things needed to be taken care of. Thankfully it all went to plan at the end," he added.

Up next for the former United midfielder is a trip to Stamford Bridge where they take on in-form Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.

The 40-year-old English man is expected to be in charge at OT pending the appointment of an interim or permanent manager to replace Solskjaer.

Former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino, Zinedine Zidane, Ernesto Valverde and Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers are some of the notable names reported as possible replacements for Ole.