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Manchester United 2 Nottingham Forest 3
Saturday 07 December 2024 19:46
Manchester United fell to a 3-2 Premier League defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
Prior to kick-off, Old Trafford stood united during an emotional applause to celebrate the life and decades-long contributions of Kath Phipps, following her recent passing.
Ruben Amorim made four changes to the team that started against Arsenal in midweek, including a full debut for summer signing Leny Yoro and the return from suspension of Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martinez – the latter making a milestone 50th Premier League appearance.
In the challenging conditions brought by Storm Darragh, Nikola Milenkovic headed Forest into an early lead, before Rasmus Hojlund restored parity. After being pinned in for much of the first half, Forest then scored twice in quick succession through Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood after the restart.
Bruno Fernandes pulled a goal back but Forest hung onto the lead throughout a frustrating finale.
Rasmus Hojlund scored for United in the first half.
FIRST HALF – REDS FIGHT BACK
A corner for the visitors inside the opening couple of minutes brought an early goal, Milenkovic getting on the end of Elliot Anderson’s corner from our left hand-side to steer a header past Andre Onana.
But United looked to respond immediately and Hojlund was just inches away from connecting with Alejandro Garnacho’s floated pass across the six-yard box. There were more encouraging balls into the box as the Reds dominated possession, while both Diogo Dalot and Fernandes sent shots wide.
There was soon a moment of mayhem in the Forest box when Amad found himself completely unmarked at a free-kick near the byline. His shot from the cutback was blocked and, as the ball rebounded up in the air, Martinez’s looping header was tipped over the bar by Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.
The 18th-minute equaliser was just reward for a spell of sustained pressure. Manuel Ugarte made the initial chance, threading a through ball between the Forest defenders to Garnacho. Sels rushed out to charge down his attempt, but Hojlund was on hand to gobble up the rebound into an open net.
Forest hadn’t really threatened since going ahead in the opening stages, but United were reminded of the potential danger when Jota Silva sent a well-directed header against the woodwork. The same player went close again when only a block from Matthijs de Ligt diverted a fierce shot over the bar. From the resultant corner, United also breathed a sigh of relief when Murillo’s instinctive effort flew just wide.
Fernandes rattled the crossbar with a stunning free-kick in the closing stages before the interval, with the sides going in level at the break.
Bruno Fernandes got on the scoresheet again.
SECOND HALF – ANOTHER EARLY SETBACK
As in the first half, Forest made a fast start again when the action resumed, retaking the lead within two minutes of kick-off. The visitors picked up the loose ball in United’s defensive third, Callum Hudson-Odoi laying it off to Gibbs-White, whose low shot swerved at the last second to wrongfoot Onana.
Wood, having only just missed a close-range chance, doubled the away side’s lead with a third goal seven minutes later. There was an element of fortune as he nodded Gibbs-White’s searching deep cross back across goal, bouncing off the inside of the post as it crept in, past the players on the line.
But as Fernandes pulled a clinical goal back to reduce the deficit to one a few moments later, it raised the noise levels inside Old Trafford to deafening. Amad cut in from the right, doing well to keep the ball under control on the stretch and find the skipper on the edge of the box. The first-time strike was unstoppable as it rippled the back of the net in front of the Stretford End.
It promised to set up a grandstand finish as United searched for the leveller, but a resilient Forest made it tough to find the spaces and limited chances created. Martinez charged forward and saw a speculative shot blocked, while Sels grasped and held a back-post header from Dalot. Fans willed the Reds to find an equaliser and a timely Forest block denied Amad an inviting opportunity on the volley.
Into seven minutes of additional time and Amad was felled on the right to win a free-kick, which led to two chances that agonisingly missed. Marcus Rashford’s volley from the initial set-piece was deflected wide, before Martinez attempted an acrobatic strike from the subsequent corner that cleared the goal.
It meant a disappointing second defeat of the week, ahead of trips to Viktoria Plzen and Manchester CIty.
Amad was a bright spark again – despite the defeat.
MATCH DETAILS
United: Onana; Yoro (Mazraoui 66), De Ligt (Maguire 65), Martinez; Amad, Ugarte (Zirkzee 76), Mainoo, Dalot; Fernandes (c) (Mount 76), Garnacho (Rashford 59); Hojlund.
Subs not used: Bayindir, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen.
Goals: Hojlund 18, Fernandes 61.
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Yates (c); Hudson-Odoi (Awoniyi 90), Gibbs-White (Dominguez 79), Jota Silva (Morato 68); Wood (Elanga 79).
Subs not used: Carlos Miguel, Boly, Toffolo, Ward-Prowse, Ramon Sosa.
Goals: Milenkovic 2, Gibbs-White 47, Wood 54.
Booked: Jota Silva 31, Williams 90+4.
Attendance: 73,778.
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Saturday 07 December 2024 19:46
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