Michael Carrick is happy with his start as Manchester United coach

Carrick’s initial victories over rivals Manchester City and Arsenal were unexpected. The matches against Fulham and Tottenham were expected, but they did not arrive without problems that had to be resolved.

Coupled with the failures of Chelsea and Liverpool, the end result is United sitting in fourth place, with an easy, but by no means pivotal, advantage in the hunt for a return to the Champions League, something few could have imagined in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s sacking following the draw with Leeds on 4 January.

“We know how hard it is to get along in this league,” said Carrick, whose side are now unbeaten in nine league matches, in which three managers have played, including caretaker Darren Fletcher.

“Sometimes it comes naturally, it flows and everything feels great. You look really serious and there’s a spark. Sometimes it’s a bit boring.”

The question for Carrick is whether his team can produce successful performances against the opposition they are expected to beat.

Many felt that West Ham were in this category, even though Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were aiming for their fourth win in five league matches, and had led Chelsea 2-0 in the match that ended in victory.

Carrick was unable to win.

What he did was risk trying to get something out of a game that seemed lost.

When Manchester United drew against West Ham at Old Trafford in December, the only substitution Amorim made was for a striker, Mason Mount, for Joshua Zirkzee, 12 minutes from time.

The latest change he made by bringing in Lisandro Martinez is another defender, Luke Shaw. Midfielder Kobe Maino and young striker Shea Lacy remained on the bench.

At the London Stadium, Carrick took a gamble. Not so with Sisko, who replaced Matheus Cunha, who was ineffective, a charge that could be leveled at all of United’s attacking players on this occasion.

It was through the introduction of Zirkzee for full-back Diogo Dalot eight minutes from time that the risk-reward element came into play.

Carrick switched to three players in defense and pushed men forward.

He knew there was a chance he would give up a second. That didn’t happen, thanks to two great saves from another substitute, Lenny Euro, and a save from Ceni Lammens.

It meant that with five minutes of injury time out of the seven added, Carrick’s side still had a chance. Cisco’s brilliant finish ensured they did not go home empty-handed.

“It’s always helpful to try to get something out of the game,” Carrick said of his substitution.

“We all want to perform perfectly, to be the best we can be.

“Sometimes it doesn’t quite happen, but that doesn’t mean you give up.

“Obviously we went for it, with three players at the back and the rest basically attacking to try and score that goal. That’s the way we have to do it.”

It’s a position directly inspired by Sir Alex Ferguson’s playbook. He was always willing to gamble in order to get the desired result and felt that this was why he enjoyed so many late successes in his brilliant career.

The winning goal against Arsenal in the 87th minute, the winning goal against Fulham in the 90th minute, and now the equalizing goal in the 95th minute against West Ham.

Carrick is happy to have scored 13 points out of 15 in his first match.

As he regroups ahead of the next round of three matches, he will be perfectly happy with the never-say-die spirit and attitude that helped make it happen.