Michael Carrick reacts to Man Utd 2 Brentford 1 in Premier League

Head coach Michael Carrick was delighted with the way his troops flew out of the blocks, with Kobbie Mainoo dancing through inside the first couple of minutes, only for Amad's shot to deflect narrowly wide.

It set the tone for a positive opening from the Reds, which yielded the opening goal from Casemiro, and Benjamin Sesko doubled the lead, following Bruno Fernandes's 19th assist of the Premier League campaign.

Although Mathias Jensen pulled one back late on, United held on for three precious points.

See what Carrick had to say in his post-match interviews with MUTV and Sky Sports...

OUR BEST START TO A GAME

"It's an important one. We came here expecting a tough night. They're a good team and dangerous. They make you defend and ask a lot of questions. We knew we had to be good tonight. I thought the first 20-25 minutes was as good as we've started a game, we were really creative, dynamic with quick football. Positive, good connections through the middle and we found Bruno quite a lot behind their line. We probably could have had an extra goal or two at that stage but credit to them. They came into the game and we had to adapt a little bit at half-time.

IT WAS OPEN

"It was quite an open game. I thought we started fantastically. We should've been at least another goal up, maybe more. But credit to them, they're a good team and have a really good mix of threats. It was a little bit more open towards the end. Brentford have not lost many games at all, especially lately. We knew they are a tough team to play against."

THE HALF-TIME SWITCH

"We tweaked things second half and, for the most part, had decent control. I thought the spirit and effort was fantastic. We could've scored more but, at this time of year, it's a results business. We were going to make it anyway and then we scored the second goal. There were just certain spaces that we needed to cover better. It was purely a tactical decision. In the position we were in at half-time, we wanted to see the game through."

THE SPIRIT

"The way the boys managed it. It's a tough league to get results in. To get the amount of wins we have, we are delighted with that. On the back of the Leeds result, we've shown great spirit and good mentality from the boys. So it was a huge effort from the players. We played some really good football but had to defend well as a team and make blocks. There were throws coming in from all angles, we had to defend and everyone played their part today."

ANOTHER ASSIST FOR BRUNO

"We hope so, of course, [Fernandes breaking the record]. In terms of scoring goals, we've pretty much scored in every game. Bruno is a big part of that but it's the forward line collective, their relationships. Bruno had an important moment and I think there were other ones where he could have had one more [assist] and scored himself. I thought we looked dangerous enough throughout the game."

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