Man Utd 3-2 Roma: Cunha Brace Completes Stunning Comeback

Manchester United produced a comeback for the ages at Old Trafford, Matheus Cunha scoring twice in three minutes late on to beat Roma 3-2 after trailing 2-0 inside 18 minutes, ending a nine-game winless run and surely saving Michael Carrick's job for now.

Two down in 18 minutes, and a record nobody wanted

It looked over almost before it had begun, exactly as feared in our match preview. On 11 minutes Rodrigo Mora beat the whole United defence with one long diagonal pass and Matias Soule, untracked on the right of the box, slammed home the opener past Senne Lammens. Seven minutes later Soule got free again, Ayden Heaven blocked his shot with an outstretched arm, and Donyell Malen sent Lammens the wrong way from the penalty spot.

At 2-0 down inside 18 minutes United had set an unwanted club record — the earliest they have ever trailed by two goals in a home game in major European competition — as the live coverage on TNT Sports recorded. Home fans released green-and-gold protest balloons onto the pitch, booed the team off at half-time, and the numbers backed them: United managed 0.24 expected goals to Roma's figure around six times higher, a first half so poor that, as our half-time report put it, Carrick's reign felt effectively over.

Bruno starts it, Cunha finishes it

Whatever Carrick said at the break worked. United came out transformed, and on 58 minutes the lifeline arrived. Bruno Fernandes saw his first penalty saved by Devis Vasquez, but Roma players had encroached before he struck it, and the captain smashed home the retake — his fourth Champions League penalty for United, level with Wayne Rooney and behind only Ruud van Nistelrooy. A minute later Bryan Mbeumo hit both posts, and Old Trafford suddenly believed.

Roma still led with seven minutes left, but they had left themselves too open, as NBC Sports noted in its live analysis. On 83 minutes Leonardo Balerdi whiffed at clearing a curling Fernandes cross and the ball dropped to Cunha alone at the top of the six-yard box. He could not miss. Three minutes later substitute Shea Lacey, on for Amad Diallo, fed Cunha down the right and the Brazilian rifled his second in at the near post to complete the turnaround, tearing his shirt off in celebration.

There was still time for chaos: Cunha, booked for that celebration, collected a second yellow for a late foul in stoppage time and was sent off, so United finished with ten men. They held on anyway, through five added minutes, for a first win in ten games in all competitions.

So what does this change?

Everything, and possibly nothing — yet. United started the night 21st in the league-phase table on three points after defeats by Atletico Madrid and Como; this win doubles their tally to six and drags them back towards the seeded knockout places with four matchdays left. Roma, unbeaten in Serie A and unbeaten in six away European games before tonight, stay on four points and will wonder how a game they controlled for an hour escaped them in three minutes.

For Carrick the consequence is immediate: a manager who was given Roma and Sunday's trip to Aston Villa to save his job has passed the first test in the most dramatic way possible. One comeback does not fix a defence that conceded twice in 18 minutes, and Cunha's suspension after his red card is an unwelcome price, but a dressing room that fights from 2-0 down in the 83rd minute has plainly not stopped playing for its manager.

Beyond the Final Whistle: this was the night Old Trafford remembered what it is for. The first half was as bad as anything United have produced in Europe; the last ten minutes were pure theatre, and Cunha — two goals, a shirt torn off, a red card — lived the whole story in one evening. Carrick is not safe, but he is alive, and for the first time in ten games United have momentum instead of an inquest.

Was this the turning point for Carrick's United, or just a famous night papering over the cracks? Tell us in the comments.