Carrick pleased to land Blues blow

Michael Carrick believes United landed a crucial blow to Chelsea's title hopes following the Reds' 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Carlos Tevez's first United goal on the stroke of half-time, plus a penalty conversion from substitute Louis Saha in the final seconds secured the points for Sir Alex's men and pushed them back into second in the table.

Although it's still early days in the title race, Carrick was delighted to see United come out on top in a match which was about more than just the three points.

"Chelsea have been our main rivals over the last few years so it's always nice to get one over them," he told MUTV. "In some ways it was a bit of a six pointer with us getting the three points and taking those points away from them.

"We played as well as we have done all the season. They're a very good side and it was a good test for us. Even before they went down to ten men [following John Obi Mikel's dismissal] I thought we were the better team.

"The second half was a different game in many ways - they sat back, while we just tried to keep the ball and take any opportunities when we got them. Thankfully we managed to get the penalty which just killed it off at the end.

"We're on a good little run now and it's important for us to keep it going."

Carrick hailed the contribution of Carlos Tevez, who opened his account for the Reds with a perfectly timed goal just before the break.

"It's great to see him off the mark," added the midfielder. "His performances have been getting better and better.

"As a striker you want to get that first goal sooner rather than later and there was no better day to get it than today."