Michael Carrick lauded his Manchester United side for making Old Trafford a "magic place" again in Saturday's 2-0 victory over rivals Manchester City.

Having returned for a second stint as caretaker boss, Carrick made an immediate mark with a much-needed win thanks to second-half goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu.

United dominated the contest and could have won by a greater margin, with Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, and Mason Mount all seeing goals ruled out in a one-sided encounter.

And City were simply unable to cope with a cauldron of noise from the home support, with Carrick intent on giving the Old Trafford crowd something to shout about.

"I don't want to get carried away with all the DNA kind of thing. We wanted to play well and put things into the game that we thought would help that," Carrick told Sky Sports.

"I couldn't ask for any more. The boys took everything on tactically and dealt with it emotionally. I said yesterday it [Old Trafford] was a magic place and it certainly was today."

Carrick once again answered United's call for support, replacing Darren Fletcher after he stepped in temporarily following Ruben Amorim's dismissal.

The former England midfielder now remains unbeaten as United boss (P4 W3 D1), having gone three games without defeat during his first interim stint in 2021.

"It's as close as we could have hoped for coming into the game. Change is not easy. Then to perform off the back of it," Carrick added.

"I had a real sense in the last few days how desperate the players were to give that feeling of success to the fans. If anything, I was concerned that feeling would go over the top because they are so keen to do well.

"But they managed the emotional side of the game unbelievably well. That made me proud, to watch my team have that feeling."

City have now gone four consecutive Premier League games without a victory for the first time since December 2024 (D2 L2), a run which also included a defeat to their local rivals.

They only accumulated 0.45 expected goals (xG) at Old Trafford, managing just one shot on target, but Pep Guardiola has regularly struggled in this fixture.

The Man City manager has lost 10 times to United, his most against one opponent in his entire managerial career (also 10 with Liverpool and Tottenham).

But Carrick refused to let anyone in on his secrets for success against City, explaining he holds Guardiola in too high of a regard to dissect his opponent's weaknesses.

"I am not going to say too much with respect to Pep, he is such an incredible coach and it is such a good team," he continued.

"It is not for me to pick them apart publicly. We wanted to play to our strengths. The two wide lads, Amad and Dorgu, were fantastic both ways. 

"Mbeumo and Bruno, [Matheus] Cunha coming on and making the difference, Mount nearly getting the goal. Everything was what we hoped for."