Man United 3-2 Roma: two down after 17 minutes, then Cunha scores twice, strips off and sees red

Two goals down after 17 minutes, jeered off at half-time and with tennis balls on the pitch, Manchester United somehow beat Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, and the man who won it did not even see the final whistle from the pitch.

Matheus Cunha scored twice in three minutes late on, after Bruno Fernandes had started the fightback from the spot. It was United’s first win in 54 days and ended a run of nine games without a victory, the kind of night that buys Michael Carrick some breathing space after a week in which his future was the only topic in town.

It came at a price, though. Carlos Baleba limped off with a hamstring problem straight after the break, and Cunha was sent off in stoppage time after a celebration that earned him the first of his two bookings.

How did Roma go two up so quickly?

Carrick made two changes from the defeat at Stamford Bridge. Ayden Heaven made his first Champions League start at Old Trafford and Kobbie Mainoo came into midfield next to Baleba, with Diogo Dalot pushed so far forward on the left that United were often left without a left-back.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side found that gap twice. Mainoo lost the ball for the first, and Matias Soule had all the time he needed to finish past Senne Lammens on 11 minutes. Six minutes later Soule’s shot struck Heaven’s arm, and Donyell Malen sent Lammens the wrong way from the penalty spot.

The mood in the stands was already ugly. Green-and-gold balloons had floated out of the Stretford End before kick-off, tennis balls were thrown on to the pitch at 20 minutes and five seconds in a protest aimed at the Glazers, and the players were booed down the tunnel at half-time. United’s first shot on target only came on the stroke of half-time, a Mainoo free-kick that Devis Vasquez, Roma’s third-choice goalkeeper making his debut for the club, saved comfortably.

Baleba’s injury and the turning point

The second half was only a few minutes old when Baleba broke through Roma’s back line and carried the ball into the box, only to pull up clutching his right hamstring. The £70million summer signing slumped to the turf with his hands over his face, and Youri Tielemans came on in the 51st minute.

It is a cruel blow for the 22-year-old, whose United debut was held back until October by an ankle injury. He has made only seven appearances for the club, and with Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday, he now faces an assessment on the hamstring.

Oddly, his exit lit the fuse. Cunha was brought down by Gianluca Mancini in the area, Fernandes saw his first penalty saved by Vasquez, but encroachment by a Roma player meant a retake, and the captain smashed the second one into the top corner on 58 minutes. Moments later Bryan Mbeumo, sent clear by Cunha, beat the goalkeeper and hit both posts before the ball bounced clear.

Man United 3-2 Roma: Cunha’s three wild minutes

The comeback looked to be running out of steam, with Harry Maguire heading close, until Cunha took over. With seven minutes of normal time left, Leonardo Balerdi missed a cross into the box and the Brazilian, all alone, finished calmly past Vasquez to make it 2-2.

Three minutes later the turnaround was complete. Substitute Shea Lacey slipped a lovely pass inside, and Cunha surged forward and hammered it in at Vasquez’s near post. Off came the shirt, into the crowd he jumped, and out came the referee’s yellow card.

Opta’s numbers say it was only the fourth time United have won a Champions League game after trailing by two or more goals, which puts them level with Real Madrid. Gasperini was in the opposite dugout for the last two of them: his Atalanta side were 2-0 up at Old Trafford in October 2021 before Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo and Maguire turned it around.

Why was Cunha sent off, and could it get worse?

The second yellow came in stoppage time, for a late challenge on Balerdi, and Cunha watched the last minutes perched on the advertising hoardings rather than in the dressing room.

When the final whistle went he came back on to celebrate, clutching the badge on his chest, and Carrick quickly sent him off the pitch. The 27-year-old looked upset after the exchange and argued with an Old Trafford official on his way to the tunnel, before stopping to applaud the home fans. The thinking is that Carrick wanted him out of sight to avoid any further punishment: a red-carded player who returns to the pitch at full-time can be reported for misconduct, and if the officials put it in their report, UEFA could extend his ban and fine both player and club.

That is the one cloud over the night. A sending-off already means an automatic ban for United’s next Champions League game, and anything on top of that would hurt a squad that is still without Benjamin Sesko until at least January.

What Carrick, Fernandes and Tielemans said

Carrick, who kept his celebrations muted and spent the aftermath of the winner in a tactical chat with Steve Holland, told UEFA: “I thought we grew into the game a bit at the end of the first half and I spoke at half-time about being positive. Anything can happen here, I’ve seen it many times over the years. You just need something to go our way and the boys were fantastic second half. They kept going, didn’t get disappointed and got exactly what they deserved in the end.”

Fernandes was speaking to the media for the first time since he was dropped after publicly criticising the manager’s tactics following the 4-1 defeat at Como. Asked whether the result would save Carrick’s job, he told Amazon Prime: “We don’t need to save anyone’s job. The club needed that win, the players needed that win.”

He added: “Everyone thought that was a punishment for the words that I had. If it was, it was right. The manager is the one who makes the decisions. It doesn’t change the belief I have of the manager and the staff and every player in this club.”

Tielemans, the man who replaced Baleba, put it more simply: “There has been a lot of pressure on him and that’s how we repay him, with a comeback like this, big character, big fight.”

Where it leaves United

The win takes United to six points and 17th in the 36-team league phase, with Roma 19th on four. More importantly, it stops the slide after the 10-man defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, and the Old Trafford crowd that spent the first half chanting against the owners and Jason Wilcox ended the night roaring.

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are next, at Old Trafford on Sunday at 4.30pm.

Verdict: one half doesn’t fix Man United

This was a brilliant night, but it was half a brilliant performance. The first 45 minutes, with Dalot stranded on the left and Mainoo and Heaven exposed, were as bad as anything in the nine-game run, and Roma could have been out of sight.

What Carrick now has is proof that this group will run and fight for him, and a reference point for every team talk that follows. What he doesn’t have is Baleba, possibly Cunha for longer than one game, or any room for another first half like that against Villa. If United play the whole of Sunday the way they played the last 40 minutes on Tuesday, this could be the night the season turned. If not, it will be remembered as the night the inevitable was put off.