Jamie Carragher picked out one Manchester United star for special praise after their 1-1 draw with Leeds on Sunday.

Bryan Mbeumo gave the Red Devils a well-deserved lead in the first half, neatly slotting in Youri Tielemans’ excellent cross from the right as Michael Carrick packed the midfield and very effectively neutralised Leeds on their own patch.

The game turned at half-time when Lisandro Martinez was forced off injured and his replacement, Noussair Mazraoui, was at fault for Leeds’ equaliser.

The Moroccan defender conceded the corner which Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored from unnecessarily and was beaten in the air by Leeds centre-back Tarik Muharemovic.

The hosts then piled the pressure on Man Utd but Carrick’s side held firm and Carragher believes Harry Maguire was key to that rearguard action.

“Going away to Leeds is going to be tricky for any team except for Manchester City and Arsenal at the moment,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“A lot of teams will take a point at Leeds this season but the problem for Manchester United is the results have been so poor that they need to start winning games so it almost feels like two points dropped.

“But in isolation, getting a point at Leeds is a decent result. I thought Harry Maguire was fantastic, especially in the second half.

“After Leeds got that goal back there was a stage of the game where it felt like Man United could go under, but Maguire at the back held it together for them. He was fantastic.”

Carrick enjoys ‘fresh start’

Carrick said after the game that the draw “felt like a fresh start”, though insists that he and his players “are not accepting that everything is great”.

He said: “That is a tough game today. Not getting too carried away because we didn’t win the game. Felt like a fresh start. Boys are desperate to do well.

“We are not accepting everything is great by any stretch. Sometimes you do struggle and you have to find a way through it. We need to be stable enough to keep doing the right things. I have no doubts we can go on a good run.”