Harry Maguire said Michael Carrick is letting the results do the talking after Manchester United edged closer to Champions League qualification with victory over Brentford. 

United are now 11 points clear in the race to reach UEFA's flagship competition after a 2-1 win at Old Trafford as they came out on top in an entertaining affair.

Casemiro's 11th-minute header was followed up by Benjamin Sesko's finish two minutes before the break, though the Red Devils had to navigate a nervy finish to see out the win.

Mathias Jensen picked out the bottom-left corner three minutes from time, but United held on for what could prove to be a huge three points in the context of their season. 

Carrick has led the team to third in the Premier League, and since his arrival (the start of his second stint – MD22 onwards), United have won more Premier League points than any other side (29 – P13 W9 D2 L2).

It remains to be seen who will take on the manager's position in a full-time capacity next season, though Maguire thinks Carrick has laid solid foundations to build on. 

"I think obviously the results help the feeling [of confidence about Michael Carrick] massively," Maguire told Sky Sports.

"We had two tough fixtures when Michael first came in, and everyone was looking at them thinking 'oh no', with Arsenal and Man City, and we managed to get the six points.

"Everyone's believed in it, and we've gathered together. We've got the confidence. We know that we can score goals from anywhere.

"I think we can still get a lot better at this formation as well. I think we can work as a back force, slide across the pitch a lot quicker, like we should have done.

"The results speak for themselves, since the manager has come in, and the formation has changed, we just seem to pick up results.

"I think that in the previous games, when Ruben [Amorim] was here, the games were 50/50, but we always ended up on the back of a defeat.

"Now it seems like it's the other way around, where we're a lot better in both boxes. We defend our box a lot better, and we're managing to be clinical in the other box."

United are now assigned a 99.4% chance of qualifying for the Champions League by the Opta supercomputer.

Rivals Liverpool are the visitors to Old Trafford next, before trips to Sunderland and Brighton come either side of a clash with a resurgent Nottingham Forest.

"At this time of year it is a results business. We needed to take the points, and we've had two fantastic results in a row," Carrick said.

"The way the boys managed it and stuck together, it was a tough finish, it is a tough league to get results in.

"To get the amount of wins we’ve had, we are delighted. Today was just about the three points and we got that. We are happy tonight.

"It is another win, and we have an important game at the weekend. We have put ourselves in a good position tonight."

Bruno Fernandes had his say, with his inch-perfect pass teeing up Sesko to cut inside and fire beyond Caoimhin Kelleher at the end of the first half.

Fernandes became just the third United player to score or assist in 8+ consecutive Premier League appearances at Old Trafford, after Cristiano Ronaldo between March and November 2008 (10 in a row) and Wayne Rooney between December 2009 – March 2010 (eight in a row).

The United captain registered his 19th top-flight assist and is just one shy of equalling the competition's record, which is jointly held by former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry (20 in 2002-03) and former Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne (20 in 2019-20).

"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," Carrick said of Fernandes' display.