Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick was delighted with his goal in last night's 2-0 victory over Portsmouth.

"The longer it went on at 1-0 the more they started to come into it," Carrick told MUTV. "They had a couple of opportunities after the break and Edwin had to make a couple of good saves.

"We played some great stuff at times in the first half and some of the link-up play was brilliant. We had a number of chances to go further ahead and that would have put the game to bed. So it was a bit frustrating in that sense. We still played well and from a personal point of view it's always nice to score. It was a quite an important goal at that point so I was pleased to get it."

The Geordie added: "Liverpool's draw was a big boost and we're in a decent position now.

"Hopefully we can keep the momentum going between now and the end of the season and put the league to bed as quickly as we can. There are big games coming up thick and fast and we need to be at our best in all of them."