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Carrick - We could have won

Image: Michael Carrick: Thought his side could go all the way after levelling with Chelsea

Michael Carrick believes Manchester United could have gone on to beat Chelsea after recovering from a 3-0 deficit.

Midfielder had belief after three-goal comeback

Michael Carrick believes Manchester United could have gone on to beat Chelsea after recovering from a 3-0 deficit. A Jonny Evans own-goal set the ball rolling for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge before goals from Juan Mata and David Luiz inside in the opening five minutes of the second half left United with a mountain to climb. However, two goals from the penalty spot by Wayne Rooney gave the defending champions hope before Javier Hernandez headed United level with six minutes left on the clock. While being delighted with the comeback England international Carrick believes that his side could have gone on to win the game and claim three points.

Disappointed

"We were slightly disappointed in the end," he told MUTV. "Obviously, when you're 3-0 down and have your backs against the wall, if someone offers you a point then you'll be happy with that but getting a third goal with a fair bit of the game to go, we fancied ourselves to go on and win it. "We probably looked like the likelier team to do it. They had a good free-kick but it's a strange feeling in many ways, it was an up and down afternoon and in the end, a point is a point and we can take an awful lot from that game. "We played well in the first half and created some opportunities. Even when we were 1-0 down at half-time we were a bit stunned and surprised but that's how it was and we had to deal with it." Despite suffering further setbacks early in the second half as Chelsea extended their lead, Carrick has praised his team-mates' character to remain in the game and continue fighting.
Positivity
"It's a credit to the boys, we kept going, kept pushing and kept believing that we could get something out of the game and in the end we have," he added. "There's a lot of positivity but there's still that little tinge of maybe we could have won it. Maybe that is a bit greedy after being 3-0 down." Although ruing not taking home the full complement of points Carrick is hoping the nature in which United managed to rescue themselves will leave fellow title-chasers with deflated morale. "I think other teams who were watching that and seeing us go 3-0 down, they would have been thinking what a good afternoon it has been for them," he said. "Then for us to come back in the manner we did might give them a little dent and a boost for us."

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