Carrick says an apology for the ref's mistake won't fix United's bad week at Old Trafford

An apology doesn't win matches. That, put bluntly, is what Michael Carrick thinks after a week to forget at Old Trafford, with two straight home defeats of a kind United hadn't suffered in a long time.

It all started with the derby against Manchester City, which United lost 1-0 despite playing more than an hour with a man advantage following Phil Foden's red card in the 23rd minute. Erling Haaland's goal was mired in controversy because it came after Enzo Fernandez attempted to play the ball while in an offside position. This week, PGMOL's chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, admitted he was "really disappointed" with the decision to let the goal stand.

Carrick appreciates the gesture, but it's not enough for him. He was clear about it:

The apology doesn't mean a great deal. I can appreciate and respect them acknowledging it and saying 'we got that wrong.' I think it happens, it does happen.Michael Carrick

The manager insists that a refereeing mistake, however big, cannot become the story of the entire season. "It can have an impact at the time, it can have a big impact," he admitted about the incident, "but we can't let it have an impact on the rest of the season, that's down to us, to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible."

The truth is that the complaints about officiating, however justified, masked another problem: United couldn't create real danger against a City side that played with ten men from the first half onward. Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford both struck the post, and Gianluigi Donnarumma had to come up big in stoppage time to deny a shot from Bryan Mbeumo, but the extra man never translated into a goal.

A bitter pill, again

And as if one painful defeat wasn't enough, another followed on Wednesday. United threw away a 2-0 lead against Brighton and ended up losing 3-2 at home, crashing out of the Carabao Cup in the first round. It was the first time in 50 years that the club had lost at Old Trafford after going two goals up, and it also handed Carrick back-to-back home defeats for the first time since he took charge in January.

That stumble, added to the 2-2 draw at Everton in which the team was also pegged back, reopened the question of whether this United side is missing the killer instinct that defined earlier versions of the club. Carrick prefers not to jump to conclusions: "It's quite immediate, in terms of the last week, with certain things that have gone on in games, but that doesn't mean there's suddenly a huge problem, and that's the balance I have to judge."

The manager urged caution before turning a rough patch into a trend. "It's very easy, because it's just happened, to suddenly think it's something that's been building for a while," he explained, and that's where the dressing room's internal read comes in, on "what can happen in football in certain games" and what needs fixing heading into what's next.

Next up is a trip to Fulham on Sunday, a must-stop assignment to halt the bleeding and turn down the volume on a media storm that, week after week, keeps finding plenty of fuel at Old Trafford.