Michael Carrick's tactical changes rescued a 4-4 draw for Manchester United against Aston Villa, while Unai Emery's substitutions backfired, raising questions about the Spaniard's suitability for the Old Trafford job.
Carrick turned to his bench twice in a week with decisive effect. Against Roma on Tuesday, the introduction of Youri Tielemans for the injured Carlos Baleba and the decision to throw on 19-year-old Shea Lacey tilted the game in United's favour. Five days later, his replacements again made an impact, with the players left out of the starting XI arguably saving his job this week.
Substitutes turn the game
Lacey again provided spark off the bench, while Mason Mount had three good chances and should probably have scored. Patrick Dorgu and Joshua Zirkzee were the stars of the show. Dorgu came on as part of a triple substitution on 66 minutes and got an assist and a goal, while Zirkzee came on with seven minutes to go and scored the goal that sparked the dramatic injury-time comeback.
Villa and Emery, by contrast, saw their changes backfire. The Spaniard took off all four goalscorers, and his team got worse for the changes rather than better. Villa scored twice at the start of each half, but on both occasions they took their foot off the gas and paid the price.
Emery's Old Trafford record
In eight visits to Old Trafford as a manager, Emery has been leading in four of those games, and in three of them his side have led more than once, but they have won none. In that time he has failed to get the better of Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and now Carrick.
It adds weight to the view that Emery is a good manager and a great project builder at clubs slightly below the elite level. When he was elevated to roles at Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, he found the going much more difficult. That is reason enough for United to think twice as to whether the 55-year-old Spaniard really is the answer, should they decide to dispense with Carrick during the international break.
United's dominance in stats
Carrick insisted United were the better side on Sunday and could have won the game. United had 28 shots to Villa's 12, 48 touches in the opposition box to 18, 197 final-third passes to 83 and eight corners to one. Carrick said they are "beating ourselves" at the moment.
The context should be factored in, and United were losing the game for close to 90 minutes, including stoppage time, so they had to make the running. But there is a sense that Villa didn't feel they had a moment to put the game to bed, and United created plenty.
The dramatic comeback and the point it earned might be enough to save Carrick again and keep him clinging on for the trip to Anfield after the international break. Even if it's not, what he did on Sunday suggests that Emery might not be the solution either.
