Michael Carrick made two changes to his starting XI as Manchester United travelled to Elland Road to face Leeds United in a crucial Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon.

Despite Lisandro Martínez returning to the starting lineup following his recent comments, United opted for a somewhat surprising five-man defence. The opening 20 minutes were fiercely contested, with both sides battling for control but neither managing to find an early breakthrough.

The visitors eventually took the lead in the 35th minute. Youri Tielemans delivered an excellent low cross from the right, allowing Bryan Mbeumo to finish from close range and give United a 1-0 advantage heading into half-time.

Leeds responded shortly after the restart, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin finding the net to bring the hosts level and set up a tense final period. Both teams pushed for a winner and created opportunities, but neither could find the decisive goal. United remained defensively disciplined in the closing stages, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Judging by the balance of play, both sides maybe would have felt that they could have snatched three points on the day, but a point a piece was ultimately the fair result, with both sides enjoying spells on the front foot throughout the game.

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke, however, feels his side will be most disappointed with the outcome. Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he said, "We are slightly disappointed it is just a point. Overall, I felt it was not necessary to be losing at half time, but it is still Manchester United. Second half, we got the equaliser, we should have kept up the dominance, too many strikes went over the crossbar but it was overall a solid performance. We should have won the game, but we move on.

"We took it as a compliment that we have done many things right over the last month if we were seen as favourites against Manchester Untiedbut we have earned this. We wanted to prove the comments right.

"We were the dominant side but we couldn't capitalise as we lacked quality in and around the box.

"It says a lot about how much respect we have earned. Overall, this is where we are at the moment and overall, it is a good place to be.

"It is still difficult in this league to win points. You have to be clinical and be very, very effective but we have to keep going."

One of the biggest questions going into this fixture was whether this Manchester United side had the right mentality to rise to the occasion in the face of a hostile Elland Road atmosphere, after a week that included a defeat to Atletico Madrid and an explosive post-match interview from Lisandro Martinez.

This external noise was calmed somewhat by the side's performance in the opening 45 minutes of the game, as Manchester United weathered the early storm from Leeds, which included some crunching challenges, and then put their foot down towards the end of the first half, and were rewarded when Bryan Mbeumo put the away side ahead in the 35th minute.

However, Manchester United quickly fell behind in the second half, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised just six minutes after play resumed. From then on, Michael Carrick's side looked to be fading, with only one shot on target in the second half, but they held on to a 1-1 draw to lift spirits slightly at Manchester United.

After a home performance against Tottenham Hotspur that saw the side booed off at half-time, United's away performance at Leeds showed they still have the fight to turn things around, though the club remain winless in the Premier League since August.