United come from behind to defeat 10-man Forest

Manchester United had to come from behind after conceding two goals in quick succession against Nottingham Forest before eventually winning 3-2.

It was a farcical start to the game from a United perspective and a dream one for the travelling support.

Forest’s first goal came from a Manchester United corner with the in-form Taiwo Awoniyi having lots of real estate to run into before eventually slotting the ball past André Onana.

The finish for Forest’s second shortly after the restart was very different. A free-kick swung in from the right and eventually bounced off the face of Willy Boly and nestled into the corner of the net.

Erik ten Hag’s team did pull one back in the 17th minute. A long-range effort from Bruno Fernandes was saved by Matt Turner only for Marcus Rashford to pick up the ball, drive forward and square the ball for Christian Eriksen to stab into the net from point-blank range.

United should have been level by the break with Casemiro in particular guilty of missing an open goal when he instead headed wide of the mark.

The home team continued to dominate in search of the equaliser in the second half and they got it seven minutes in.

This was a cleverly worked free-kick from the right that Fernandes rolled across to Rashford. The United captain kept his run going and was able to head Rashford’s pass back across the face of goal for Casemiro to this time make no mistake.

It felt like a winning goal for United was inevitable, especially when Forest were reduced to 10 men after Joe Worrall was sent off for bringing down Fernandes and, according to the referee, preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity. Steve Cooper’s team may feel aggrieved by the decision considering a covering defender wasn’t too far away but VAR chose not to intervene after checking.

The winning goal came from the penalty spot in the 76th minute. Rashford was heading towards the byline when he was just clipped by Danilo which led to Stuart Attwell pointing to the spot. Matt Turner was at full stretch to try and stop Fernandes’ penalty but had no chance of getting to the spot-kick that was tucked inside the left post with power.

Forest deserve credit for how they played in the final 15 minutes plus 11 (and a bit) of stoppage time. Of the two teams on the pitch, you’d imagine it was United with 10 men if you had only seen the ending of the game with the home side having to withstand a few nervy moments.

Overall, it was a deserved win and a far improved performance from Manchester United – excluding a freaky first four minutes.

xG: Manchester Utd (2.98) 3-2 (1.30) Nottingham Forest

Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes was at the heart of everything Manchester United did and was involved in all three goals – a captain's performance.

Three points is all that matters ❤️‍🔥#MUFC || #MUNNFO pic.twitter.com/8IFz0S8WSS

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 26, 2023