Jamie Carragher singled out ‘fantastic’ Harry Maguire for praise after Manchester United’s battling 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin second-half goal cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s first-half opener as Leeds denied the Red Devils a much-needed win at Elland Road.
The stalemate extends Manchester United’s winless run to six games and keeps Michael Carrick’s side in the bottom-half of the Premier League, while Leeds stay seventh.
Despite failing to secure only their second league win of the season, United could take positives from the game, according to Carragher, who reserved special praise for England defender Maguire.
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‘Going away to Leeds is going to be tricky for any team except for Manchester City and Arsenal at the moment,’ Carragher said on Sky Sports.
‘A lot of teams will take a point at Leeds this season but the problem for Manchester United is the results have been so poor that they need to start winning games so it almost feels like two points dropped.
‘But in isolation, getting a point at Leeds is a decent result. I thought Harry Maguire was fantastic, especially in the second half.
‘After Leeds got that goal back there was a stage of the game where it felt like Man United could go under, but Maguire at the back held it together for them. He was fantastic.’
Calvert-Lewis felt Leeds were ‘unlucky’ not to take all three points from a competitive and entertaining clash at Elland Road.
‘I think we could’ve played with a bit more quality in the final third, particularly in the first half,’ he said. ‘We were getting good quality in the box but just not enough numbers.
‘We made sure in the second half we came out with more confidence going forward. I think we were unlucky not to win the game.
‘They tried to match us up formation-wise. Not surprised given what happened last season. They were probably looking at our physical output and the way we liked to play and tried to go man-for-man.
‘It took us a little bit to adjust to it, but I don’t think it was too difficult to adjust. It was more down to us and maybe a lack of quality in the final third.’
Manchester United face Cesc Fabregas’ Como in the Champions League on Wednesday night while Leeds return to action next weekend against Sunderland.
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