Carrick under more pressure

Michael Carrick’s position as Manchester United manager was jeopardised further after a 2-0 loss at Chelsea in the English Premier League, with Lisandro Martinez’s reckless sending-off adding to the woes of the beleaguered English giant yesterday.

It was a bad day for the other Manchester club, too, as first-placed City fell at home to Brighton 1-0 for a second straight league loss, having opened the campaign with seven wins in a row.

Carrick was already under huge pressure – and seemingly operating on a match-by-match basis – heading into the game at Stamford Bridge, for which he restored Bruno Fernandes to the starting line-up after dropping the captain last week.