Carrick Happy To Chip In

Michael Carrick was delighted to put the seal on a crucial victory against Portsmouth which sent Sir Alex's men three points clear of Liverpool at the league summit.

The substitute latched onto a fine ball from Paul Scholes - making his 600th appearance - to drive home United's second in the 82nd minute, which had somehow been evasive since Wayne Rooney's opener on nine minutes.

"The longer it went on at 1-0 the more they started to come into it," Carrick told MUTV. "They had a couple of oppportunities after the break and Edwin had to make some good saves.

"We played some great stuff at times in the first half and the link-up play was brilliant at times. We had a number of chances to go further ahead and that would have put the game to bed. So it was a bit frustrating. We still played well and from a personal point of view it's always nice to score. It was a quite an important goal at that point so I was pleased to get it."

Despite being in the title race driving seat following Liverpool's two dropped points against Arsenal on Tuesday, Carrick maintains there's still work to be done before any silverware is handed out.

"Liverpool's draw was a big boost and we're in a decent position now," he said. "Hopefully we can keep the momentum going until the end of the season and put the league to bed as quickly as we can. There are big games coming thick and fast and we need to be at our best in all of them."

Carrick scoring against Portsmouth