Michael Carrick insisted Manchester United “have bigger games to come” after a dramatic 3-2 win over Arsenal at the Emirates pushed his perfect start as head coach to two wins from two and ignited chants of “We’re gonna win the league” from the away end.

United, revitalised under the former midfielder, claimed their first league victory away to Arsenal since 2017. Goals from Bryan Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha secured the result and lifted United into the Champions League places, cutting the gap to the Premier League leaders to 12 points.

The performance followed a composed 2-0 win over Manchester City in Carrick’s first match in charge, after he stepped in as interim successor to the dismissed Ruben Amorim. Yet Carrick was quick to temper the growing optimism around Old Trafford.

“I’m not getting carried away,” he told reporters. “We’ve got some big games, bigger games, coming up, because every next game is the bigger game. We’ve got really important things coming up that we need to keep improving with.”

With United already out of both domestic cup competitions and only the league left to fight for, Carrick framed the season as a test of consistency and mentality, starting with the upcoming visit of Fulham to Old Trafford.

“There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of energy and a lot of confidence that you can take from beating City and Arsenal,” he said. “But be humble and understand how we’ve got these results. That’s really important moving forward.”

Carrick declined to be drawn on whether his early success strengthens his case for the job on a permanent basis, insisting the focus must remain on performance rather than politics.

“What happens next, I’m not going to be answering it every week,” he said. “It’s been less than two weeks that we’ve been together, so it’s just keep getting good habits and good routines. I don’t think we can look too far ahead. Looking too far ahead can come back and bite you.”

The only concern on an otherwise uplifting night was the late withdrawal of Denmark winger Patrick Dorgu, who limped off after another tireless display.

“Pat’s been a big player for us,” Carrick said. “He came off with a bit of cramp, so hopefully it’s not much more than that.”