MANCHESTER: Michael Carrick saluted Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes after Manchester United’s midfield stars inspired the 2-1 win over Brentford that moved them closer to Champions League qualification.

Casemiro headed United in front in the early stages at Old Trafford after Fernandes’s corner was nodded on by Harry Maguire.

Fernandes helped United double their lead just before half-time with a surging run and pin-point pass to Benjamin Sesko, who fired home in clinical style.

Carrick’s side survived Mathias Jensen’s late strike to secure a second successive victory, cementing their grip on third place in the Premier League.

Brentford are ninth on 48 points among several clubs still in with a chance of making the Europa League.

Brazilian veteran Casemiro, who is set to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, now has four goals in his last six games, underlining his enduring value to United.

Fernandes is even more important, the United captain making his 19th assist of the campaign to move within one of the single-season Premier League record currently held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

Carrick knows the value of his midfield pair and the United interim boss said: “Casemiro has scored some big goals for us. Bruno and Casemiro have a good relationship.

“We have scored nearly every game and Bruno is a big part of that. He could have maybe had one more assist and scored himself.”

When Carrick took over until the end of the season, United were languishing in sixth place, with a Champions League berth far from assured.

But the former United midfielder has impressively steadied the ship following the turbulent reign of Ruben Amorim.

United now need just two points from their last four games to seal their place in Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since 2023-24.

“It wasn’t a given, at certain stages we weren’t favourites. Now we are in a good position and want to finish as high in the league as we want to keep pushing for that,” Carrick said.

“I thought the spirit, effort and togetherness of the players was fantastic. It’s the time of year when it’s a result business and we needed to take points.

“It’s a tough finish in a tough league. To get the amount of wins we have, we are delighted with that.

“Today was all about the three points for us. We have an important game coming up against Liverpool and we can look forward to that.”

Liverpool are three points behind United in fourth place, with the two rivals meeting at Old Trafford on Sunday.

“We have to push until the last minute. It’s important to bring the energy we brought today and we believe we can manage it,” goal-scorer Sesko said of his side being on the cusp of qualifying for the Champions League.

“It was tough, because we knew we faced a difficult team but we managed to hold the score until the end and we deserved the victory.”

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2026