Michael Carrick singles out two Man Utd players after late West Ham draw | Football | Sport

Michael Carrick is convinced that Benjamin Sesko is ready to elevate his game after salvaging a draw for Manchester United at West Ham. Carrick picked the 22-year-old and Leny Yoro out for praise after a dramatic 1-1 draw at the London Stadium. Sesko has yet to feature in the starting line-up of any of Carrick’s five matches at the helm, but netted a pivotal injury-time goal for the second time in three fixtures, with his quick-fire finish in the 96th minute ensuring a share of the spoils following Tomas Soucek’s opener.

Sesko has bagged two goals in 61 minutes of football under Carrick and boasts five goals in his last six appearances, only two of which were starts. Despite his limited game time, he appears to be in a rich vein of form at the moment. The £73million forward was unlucky not to be named in the starting XI at the London Stadium, and Carrick conceded he could have introduced him earlier than the 69th minute, given United’s need for an attacking spearhead. However, when he did enter the fray, he proved worth the wait.

« It’s always the balance. I think the boys have done fantastically well who have played as well, » Carrick commented. « That’s the importance of the whole group and importance of the squad and I’ve said it to them after every game.

« Leny’s come on and made a big difference for us tonight in big moments and then Ben scored again. Ben’s doing a lot work. He’s in a good place, he’s ready to kick on, it’s just managing the balance. »

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« We could have changed things a little bit earlier. That’s obviously the decision we’re always trying to make and we were actually having a bit of a spell in the game at that point where we thought we might come back into it, but when Ben came on the pitch he made a big difference. »

Sesko executed his goal superbly, delivering a clever finish to transform Bryan Mbeumo’s cross into something special and guide the ball over Hammers goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Carrick has previously highlighted the quality of his finishing during training sessions and is thrilled with the progress the young striker is making in his debut season at Old Trafford.

« It’s an unbelievable finish from the angle to generate that, to get it on target, to finish it, » he said. « It’s some goal from him. He’s capable of that, Ben. He’s done it over time. It’s not that he’s just suddenly burst on the scene.

« He’s been doing it, he’s proven that he can score goals as well. He’s been doing it in training for us as well. It’s not surprising, to be honest. I think that’s what he does, it’s what he’s good at. But certainly to actually do it and to feel it. He did it with the last one [against Tottenham], tonight, a little bit different with the emotion of the game, but certainly important and a big moment for him and us. »

Carrick chose to stick with the same side that had overcome Fulham and Tottenham, but a versatile attack struggled to ignite in the capital, though that adaptability proved valuable ultimately as he introduced substitutes in an attempt to alter the outcome.

« There’s a little bit on different games as well as situations in games and how you want to attack, where the space is or what the game looks like, » he said. « We probably didn’t quite get the balance right, if we’re honest, for the first part of the game ».

« Which happens, teams are allowed to stop you from scoring, but we kept going and mixed things up, and because we have got that flexibility, I think it certainly helps to find different solutions. »

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