Nott'm Forest 2 Man Utd 1
Nuno Espirito Santo was looking to prevent his new team from suffering a fifth consecutive defeat at home this season as they welcomed Man Utd to the City Ground. Erik ten Hag’s side were in the midst of another of their infamous ‘we’re back’ moments after coming from two-nil down to beat Villa in the week.
One swallow does not make a summer however. It is a quote United fans would take great advice from. It is not good for their heart health and blood pressure to convince themselves that ten Hag is the man to lead them to glory after one good result thrown in amongst an absolute howler of a season.
All too often, post defeat, Red Devils’ fans and Gary Neville lament how they need to get rid of the owners. The Dutch manager at the helm, has been there for under two years and in that time has spent over £400m on players he personally wanted to sign. Nothing to do with the Glazers.
The first half of this game was a tough watch with neither side able to carve out anything in the shape of goalmouth action. Varane almost deflected a cross past his own keeper which spurred one of Onana’s crazy dives which would look more at home in a TikTok video than on a football pitch.
Credit: @NFFC
Forest seemed to be playing their opponent’s past as opposed to the team on the pitch. Man Utd are steeped in rich history but that was a long time ago and the current crop are a ragtag band of underperforming and mainly overpaid players.
To underpin how bad this first half was, the highlights on Match of the Day lasted fifty-five seconds and twenty of those were a close up of the facial expressions of Erik ten Hag. Viewers of the game on Sky Sports were hoping for some sort of action in the second half or maybe a fire alarm being set off failing that.
Wan-Bissaka cut the ball back to Dalot on the edge of the box at the start of the half. The defender shot first time and saw his effort come thundering back off the post with the keeper beaten. It was the closest we had come to a goal.
Forest started passing the ball around and Montiel spotted Dominguez unmarked in the box. The midfielder side-footed his first-time shot into the bottom corner of the goal with Onana a spectator for the whole event.
The City Ground erupted while Erik ten Hag had a look on his face that he had been told all his Christmas presents had to be returned. His tenure at Old Trafford was starting to look a new instalment of the Freddy Krueger saga…..nightmare on Sir Matt Busby Way.
However, Forest keeper Matt Turner had looked like an accident waiting to happen all afternoon when he had the ball at his feet. As he tried to clear the ball, he sliced it twenty feet in the air above his own head, relieved to catch the subsequent bouncing ball before Rashford could do anything.
Credit: @NFFC
The bumbling Forest keeper then received a backpass from Niakhate before passing it straight to Garnacho. The United winger squared it to Rashford who struck it sweetly into the bottom corner to draw the visitors level.
Ten Hag’s side fancied their chances now and as Eriksen shot from the edge of the box, Turner managed to get down well to save. Forest broke from this moment and went straight up the other end of the pitch to take the lead once again.
Yates drove forward, finding Elanga out wide. He picked out Gibbs-White, who passed the ball into the back of the net with Onana at full stretch. It was a fantastic finish from outside of the box and redeemed his keeper’s earlier error.
United huffed and puffed, much like the big bad wolf at the fourth pig’s house, which in this case was made of lead. Forest dug deep and held on for their first win against Man Utd at the City Ground for 31 years. Erik ten Hag is just breaking records left, right and centre as Red Devils’ boss.
His post-match comments continued to talk about injuries and getting players back almost like he has forgotten how bad those players are at football. His delusions of grandeur almost seem laughable now as he talks about levels and what the levels required at Man Utd are.
From an outsider looking in, those levels haven’t been hit since Alex Ferguson walked out of the club and there seems no light at the end of the tunnel right now. Maybe a chemical engineer is the answer to the problems of a football club, in which case Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be the club’s saviour.
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