Manchester United travelled to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest, looking for their first back-to-back Premier League wins of the season.
Andre Onana started in goal while Patrick Dorgu returned to the starting eleven after serving the final game of his suspension.
Diogo Dalot returned at right wing back, while Matthijs De Ligt, Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui made up the back three.
Casemiro’s improved form saw him get a start alongside Manuel Ugarte while Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes started in the number ten positions.
Joshua Zirkzee was selected ahead of Rasmus Hojlund in the number nine slot.
Here are five things we learnt from the match.
United continue to be naive
The Peoples Person highlighted before the game that United would need to be careful on the counter against a dangerous Forest team.
It surely would have been something that Ruben Amorim and his coaching staff would have discussed at length in their preparation for the match.
It took only four minutes for United to overcommit themselves from a corner and the ball broke to their former player, Anthony Elanga, who charged through a terrified United backline to put the Tricky Trees ahead.
The Red Devils seem to be making gradual improvements under Amorim but just when there seems to be real progress, the players take a step back with a basic error or poor organization in key moments that stunt any growth as a functioning team.
United lack goalscoring threat
Amorim’s side kept the ball well and had 69% of the ball and 10 shots to Forest’s three in the first half.
They also clipped the bar with a Dalot header but no matter how much of the ball they had, they rarely looked like scoring in the first 45 minutes.
The sad truth is having Zirkzee, Garnacho, Casemiro and Dorgu in attacking areas is just not going to result in many goals at this moment in time.
A lack of goalscoring threat has been a huge problem all season as they have only scored 37 goals in the league before tonight’s match.
It is most definitely the most glaring issue that the club needs to solve this summer if they are to make the sort of progress everyone connected to the Red Devils yearns for.
United carried some threat from corners
The Red Devils have steadily improved this season from set pieces.
Bruno Fernandes has produced some free kick goals and assists from corners in the last few weeks and it looked one of the most likely avenues to score in a frustrating night for United.
Dalot hit the crossbar and Casemiro had a couple of free headers that he should probably have done better with. Garnacho also almost smashed in an equaliser in the second half when the ball was fired in across the box from another Fernandes corner kick.
Supporters of the club will hope that the team can continue to pose a bigger threat from set pieces than they have in previous years.
Garnacho’s wastefulness is a huge issue
On the one hand, it is difficult to judge a 20 year old who has very little in the way of a supporting cast of goalscorers.
In addition, the young Argentine doesn’t back down and never goes into hiding, as he always demands the ball in United’s attack.
Nonetheless, the wastefulness of the academy product is becoming a big issue.
He has only scored one goal since November and tonight he continued to blaze the ball high and wide when in good goalscoring positions.
If United are to take the next step as a team, they need more reliable goalscorers than Garnacho. Whether he can turn himself into one over the coming years, or will be given the opportunity to do so at Old Trafford, is another question.
Leny Yoro will be a star
The young Frenchman left the game after 88 minutes but put in an outstanding display.
He largely dealt with what was asked of him but really came to life in the second half.
Yoro chased down the electric Elanga and made an incredible last-ditch tackle to stop a certain goal.
The 19 year old also made a fantastic block moments later to prove that alongside Ayden Heaven, United have two very exciting young centre back talents on their books.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
