Manchester United erase two-goal deficit to beat Roma, ending nine-match winless run

Manchester United came back from two goals down to beat Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford on Tuesday, ending a run of nine matches without a win and lifting some of the pressure building on manager Michael Carrick before the international break. Matheus Cunha scored twice in the final half-hour, including the 86th-minute winner, before being sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.

From two down to a chaotic finish

Roma took control early, with Matías Soulé breaking past a static United defense to open the scoring in the 11th minute. Six minutes later, Donyell Malen doubled the lead from the penalty spot after a handball by United's Ayden Heaven, and the visitors looked comfortable heading into halftime at 2-0.

United's response came almost entirely in the second half. Bruno Fernandes converted a retaken penalty in the 58th minute to make it 2-1, and the game turned decisively in the final 15 minutes. Cunha equalized after Roma defender Leonardo Balerdi misjudged a ball into the box, then put United ahead for good in the 86th minute by breaking clear on the right and finishing from close range. Moments later, Cunha was shown a second yellow card and sent off, meaning United finished the match with ten men. According to UEFA's official record of the league-phase results, the win moved United to six points from four matches, placing them 17th in the 36-team Champions League standings, while Roma remain on four points in 19th.

The result also ended United's longest winless run of the season: nine games across all competitions, including three draws and six defeats, without a victory since late September. UEFA's match listing for Manchester United's 2026/27 campaign shows it as only the club's second win in four Champions League league-phase matches this season.

A reversal from a remarkable turnaround

The win arrives against the backdrop of a season that has gone sharply against the pattern Carrick set when he first took charge. United sacked Rúben Amorim in early January 2026 after roughly 14 months in the job, and Carrick, a former United midfielder, was brought in initially as an interim appointment. What followed was one of the better managerial stretches at the club in years: United won 11 of their first 16 matches under him and took 23 points from his first nine Premier League games, climbing to the top of the table during that stretch, according to a tally of the Premier League table compiled since his appointment. United finished third in the Premier League last season, securing Champions League qualification, and the club made Carrick permanent manager on a two-year contract in May.

That form has not carried into the current campaign. United opened 2026/27 with a home defeat to promoted Hull City and have struggled for consistency since, including a 2-0 loss at Chelsea in the Premier League shortly before this match. The nine-game winless stretch heading into Tuesday's game had left Carrick facing renewed questions about his position, making the comeback a meaningful release of pressure rather than a routine three points.

Tuesday's match was also the first meeting between the two clubs since their 2021 Europa League semifinal, when United advanced 8-5 on aggregate despite a 3-2 defeat in the second leg in Rome. Roma had arrived at Old Trafford unbeaten through their first nine Serie A matches of the season, which made the collapse of their two-goal lead in Manchester more notable than it might otherwise have been.

Who was affected

Midfielder Carlos Baleba, who joined United's squad this year, went off early in the second half with a hamstring injury and is likely to miss the club's next match. Cunha, who scored the equalizer and winner, will miss United's next Champions League fixture through suspension after his red card. Roma saw a two-goal lead evaporate for the second time in this season's league phase; Real Madrid came back from 3-1 down to beat Roma 4-3 earlier in the competition, a parallel noted in coverage of United's comeback. Roma's own recap, published by the club on its official site, confirmed the 3-2 scoreline and the halftime lead the team had surrendered.

Reaction

Carrick kept his comments measured afterward, saying only that the result mattered without overstating its significance. He also singled out young defender Shea Lacey, who was asked to play at right-back and whose pass set up Cunha's winning goal, for praise. Fernandes, who has become a focal point of supporter frustration at Old Trafford this season, spoke more candidly about the mood around the club in comments carried by Sky Sports after the match.

"I just want to make everyone aware that we're all frustrated with the situation at the moment," Fernandes said.

He added that he had accepted being dropped to the bench for United's previous match against Bournemouth, saying the decision belonged to the manager.

What's next

United return to Premier League action at home to Aston Villa on Sunday before the November international break, with Cunha's domestic availability unaffected by his European suspension. Roma, who remain in the bottom half of the Champions League table despite their unbeaten domestic form, will look to respond when league-phase play resumes later in the month. United's next Champions League fixture is away to Sporting CP in Lisbon on November 25, a match Cunha is set to miss because of his red card. For a club that set a club-record points haul in its first stretch under Carrick, Tuesday's result was less about European progress than about proving, after nine winless games, that the same team was still capable of pulling off a result from a losing position.