Ruben Amorim’s mixed start to life at Old Trafford continued as he saw his side beaten 3-2 by Nottingham Forest, who recorded their first win at Old Trafford in 30 years.
This fixture was the perfect opportunity for us to bounce back from the 2-0 loss against Arsenal ahead of a crucial Europa League game on Thursday, but it wasn’t meant to be for the Reds, who showed a lack of quality on the night.
United Dominate, but lack of concentration proves costly
It’s usually the Manchester United faithful who have been the beneficiaries of a quick start to games under Amorim, as seen by our early goals against Everton, Ipswich and Bodo/Glimt.
It was the visitors however who made the most of United’s lack of concentration with two quickfire goals in both halves. Nikola Milenković grabbed the opener, with the Serbian centre-back towering over Martinez and heading past Onana with two minutes gone on the clock.
United dominated the rest of the first half, with Hojlund putting us back in the game in the 18th minute, following up a saved strike from Garnacho to bury into an empty net. United would have felt unlucky going into the break level pegging, with Fernandes seeing a free-kick excellently saved by in-form keeper, Matz Sels who tipped the well-struck free-kick onto the crossbar.
Two minutes into the second half and it was the same story as in the first. Fernandes played a sloppy ball, which was intercepted by Callum Hudson-Odoi, who set up Morgan Gibbs-White for Forest’s second of the game. His strike down the centre of the goal somehow beat Onana, who really should have done better.
The killer blow came merely seven minutes later as Gibbs-White went from scorer to provider, whipping in a great ball, with Chris Wood sending a looping header back towards the goal, evading Onana, as well as Martinez and De Ligt, who somehow failed to clear the ball.
Fernandes gave us a glimmer of hope, when, in the 61st minute he fired home from the edge of the box, but United couldn’t capitalise on this, with substitute Rashford coming closest to getting United a point.
While we beat Forest in most of the metrics, including shots and possession, the only one they beat United in was the one that mattered most; goals scored.
Set-piece Woes continue
Coming off the back of a 2-0 loss to Arsenal where both goals came from corners, you’d have thought that much of their work on the training ground would have been to remedy this issue, yet two minutes into the game, yet another corner was scored from. We have now conceded seven goals (which is 50% of our conceded goals) from set-pieces this season in the Premier League; a higher proportion than any other team.
an out-of-sorts defence
When the line-up was announced, fans were excited to see that they’d finally got the back line that they’ve wanted to see all season. Diallo, Yoro, De Ligt, Martinez and Dalot made up the back five, which, on paper, is United strongest defensive lineup. However, the backline looked out of sorts. Martinez was outjumped by Milenkovic for Forest’s opener. De Ligt, and, Martinez in particular, were also at fault for the Visitors’ third, as the Argentinian somehow failed to clear the ball before it nestled in United’s net.
Player Ratings & motm
Andre Onana – 4: After a brilliant start to this season, Onana won’t want to watch back this game – he looked like the keeper we saw for the first six months last season
Leny Yoro – 5: Looked promising in his full debut for United, but he was beaten in the air by Chris Wood for Forest’s third.
Matthijs de Ligt – 4: With his height and frame, you’d think that the dutchman’s presence would be vital at defending set pieces, but was easily out-jumped for Forest’s first, and was poor for their third
Lisandro Martinez – 3: An afternoon to forget for the Argentinian. He was beaten by Milenkovic with ease in the air for the first and did nothing to prevent Wood’s goal.
Amad Diallo – 6: Provided the assist for Fernandes’ goal and tried his hardest to create chances at the end
Manuel Ugarte – 7 & MOTM: A bright spark in a very dull afternoon for United. In perhaps his best performance so far for United, he stopped a number of Forest attacks, and created the first goal; carrying the ball forward before sliding Garnacho through, who should’ve scored, with Hojlund scoring the rebound.
Kobbie Mainoo – 5: Following a spell on the sideline, the youngster was visibly not fully fit, and is still finding his form.
Diogo Dalot – 5 Decent defensively, but lacked impact going forward, as well as having a number of wasted pot shots, when better options were available.
Bruno Fernandes – 7: Every attack seemingly went through Fernandes, as he continues his positive start to life under Amorim. Got the goal that gave United a glimmer of hope and was also unlucky not to score from a freekick in the first half. While he did give a sloppy pass that resulted in Forest’s second, the majority of the blame falls on Onana’s shoulders. He was, however, subbed off bizarrely with 15 minutes to go.
Rasmus Hojlund – 6: Got his goal thanks to some quick reactions and showed some good skills in holding the ball up.
Alejandro Garnacho – 5: A bad day at the office for Garnacho, who should’ve scored the initial chance that led to Hojlund’s opener. He was subbed off in the 59th minute, showing visible signs of frustration as he went off.
Subs:
Marcus Rashford – 5: Not the impact that he would have wanted to have to get a starting place in the side. He had a good chance to level the scores, with his goal-bound effort deflecting for a corner.
Noussair Mazraoui – 5: Gave the defensive solidity to allow United to push further forward towards the end of the game.
Harry Maguire – 6: Shower more defensive solidity than De Ligt and Martinez in his 25-minute cameo.
Mason Mount – 4: Didn’t justify the decision to substitute Fernandes and was barely involved.
Joshua Zirkzee – 4: Came on looking to link play, and didn’t link up well with Hojlund when the formation changed to two strikers.
Looking Forward
United will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses on Thursday when they face Czech side Viktoria Plzen in a vital Europa League tie. The two sides currently sit level on nine points with three games left to play. We sit just one point outside of the automatic spots, so a win is crucial to solidify our chance to go through automatically.