Cunha’s screamer seals 3-2 thriller at Arsenal as Maguire credits Carrick for galvanising United | OneFootball

Harry Maguire has praised Michael Carrick for galvanising the Manchester United squad since his appointment as interim manager.

Manchester United climbed into the Champions League places with a 3-2 win at Arsenal, inflicting a first home defeat of the season on the Premier League leaders in the process.

United fell behind through a Lisandro Martinez own goal at the Emirates but levelled almost immediately, as Bryan Mbeumo capitalised on a poor pass from Martin Zubimendi to equalise.

Patrick Dorgu then blasted the Red Devils ahead early in the second period, only forArsenal to equalise late on as Mikel Merino bundled in from a scrappy set piece. United, however, bounced back from that blow as substitute Matheus Cunha's stunning strike sealed a memorable win three minutes from time.

The win atArsenal followed a derby day success against Manchester City last weekend, with Carrick having led the side to back-to-back wins over the Premier League's top two.

Maguire praised the interim coach for his immediate impact and said United now have the quality to 'hurt' any team in the division.

"It was absolutely massive. We know that the first game, the derby at Old Trafford, you're always up for them and you know that one-off results can happen, so we had to back it up today," Maguire said, speaking toSky Sports.

"We spoke about it before the game, coming to the league leaders, who have been excellent this year I must say, they ask a lot of questions of you, to come here and have the setback late on to get the winner, it was a magnificent performance.

"Michael's [Carrick] come in, he's been brilliant with us, he's brought a fresh energy in, the group's really galvanised. Two tough games, everybody's probably thinks we come away from them with not many points but to win both is magnificent.

"We've got a much bigger squad now we've got the lads back from Afcon and got players like Matheus [Cunha] coming off the bench who I'm sure he's not too happy sat on the bench the last few games. I know what he's like, he wants to play, but he's made the difference in the two games.

"He's come on against City and changed the game, and today again he's made the difference for us. It just shows the squad of players and the attacking players that can come on and do that.

"I thought the first 20 minutes they started really well. They put us on the back foot so much but we knew we watched the game against Liverpool and they did the same in the first half there. We got a grip of the game and started to be a bit more brave on the ball.

"We started playing through the middle and finding passes through the lines. I thought we opened them up. I thought we were comfortable in the second half. Their biggest threat was set-plays, and to score one, it was a scrappy goal to concede. We have quality to hurt teams and we did that today."