Man United came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Bruno Fernandes was the star of the show, however it was far from plain sailing for the hosts.
It was the visitors who made a dream start in front of a packed Old Trafford.
Following a United corner, Taiwo Awoniyi surged down the midfield to brush off Marcus Rashford before prodding his low finish past Andre Onana to give his side the lead.
Steve Cooper’s side then doubled their advantage just two minutes later. Willy Boly headed in from close range from Morgan Gibbs-White right-sided freekick as Forest were in dreamland.
Despite the early setback, Eric ten Hag’s side settled down and controlled the game from then on. Christian Eriksen pulled a goal back for the hosts with a clever finish from Marcus Rashford’s left-wing cross.
United should have been level in the 26th minute but Casemiro inexplicably missed an open goal from point-blank range as he headed over from Bruno Fernandes’ corner.
Forest’s game plan was clear after taking the lead. The visitors were happy to sit back and then hit on the counter with pace, and they almost made it 3-1 on the stroke of halftime. After Brennan Johnson’s wonderful wing play, Gibbs-White’s goal-bound effort was blocked off by Awoniyi as the latter failed to get out of the way.
Seven minutes after the restart, United pulled themselves level when Casemiro atoned for his previous mistake to finish off a delightful United move. Rashford found Fernandes with a lovely, weighted ball over the ball before the midfielder squared it off to Casemiro who finished with aplomb.
Antony almost gave United the lead just minutes later, but Forest keeper Matt Turner got down to make a stunning save to keep his side in the game.
The visitors were then reduced to ten men in the 69th minute when Joe Worrall was sent off for bringing down Fernandes from Casemiro’s cross-field pass.
United were then awarded a penalty six minutes later when Danilo brought down Rashford in the fox. Fernandes stepped up to convert the spot kick and give his side a 3-2 lead.
Boly almost leveled it in the 85th minute but Onana made a stunning save to keep out the defender’s goal-bound effort as United ran out winners in an entertaining game.
The Red Devils now travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal next week in a mouth-watering clash. Forest, meanwhile, travel to London for another tough encounter against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Photo credit: IMAGO / PA Images
