Anthony scored a goal and provided an assist to help Man Utd produce one of the most comfortable football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Antony opened the goal from close range (32) and then rolled in Diogo Dalot (76) following the amazing performance by the players. With a game in hand and only eight games remaining, Manchester United moved six points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham.
Forest have now lost 10 consecutive games in all competitions to Manchester United, including four this season – but things could have been different if a VAR decision had gone their way in the first half. They will feel deceived as the ball touched the nervous Harry Maguire’s arm in the box and no penalty was awarded. Taiwo Awoniyi had chances in the first 45 minutes as well, with one effort cleared off the line and another flying past the bar before Scott McKenna forced the ball onto a post. In the second half, Felipe scored from two yards out, just before Dalot’s game-winner.
In February 1999, Manchester United won 8-1 at the City Ground, and it appeared like struggling Forest would suffer another heavy defeat when Felipe had to parry a Jadon Sancho shot near his own goal-line inside a minute. Awoniyi’s own goal-bound attempt was blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka just a few minutes later, as Forest replied brilliantly. After 19 minutes, a corner fell on Maguire’s arm within the six-yard box, but VAR ruled in favour of the visitors.
After being penalized for hauling down Awoniyi and putting a pass straight out of play, Maguire was involved again as Forest hit the post from another corner. The ball rebounded off the United captain’s and McKenna’s arms and onto the goal frame, but if it had gone in, it would have been ruled out. Despite their powerful forward play, Forest was defeated shortly after the half-hour mark when Anthony Martial won the ball high up the pitch, linked up with the great Fernandes, and then turned in the Frenchman’s parried shot. The Brazilian netted his fourth goal of the season.
Both Awoniyi and Fernandes, who were playing in an advanced role after Marcel Sabitzer was injured in the warm-up, squandered wonderful scoring chances late in what had been an open first half. Keylor Navas saved a strong Fernandes effort after the interval before denying a low shot from the Portuguese to his right.
United was encamped around the Forest box for long portions of the game, and they finished with 22 shots to their hosts’ six. Forest had a one-goal advantage and had a chance to equalise when Felipe headed a corner over from close range. Soon after, Dalot scored the game-winning goal, marking his 100th appearance for United with a nice finish on Antony’s move and through ball.
“I believe that was a penalty [against Maguire], and it was a terrible mistake. The referee should have seen it, but I understand why he didn’t due to the angle and the number of players. Why hasn’t VAR done so?” Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper said. “Another occasion when VAR will be scrutinized. There have been a lot of bad judgments in the previous several weeks, and this is another one. I’m not going to say it’s the reason we didn’t win the game, but it could have been a second yellow and a red for Maguire, and we could have scored the penalty and gone 1-0 up.”
“A strong performance. A well-deserved victory. The only critique I have is that the score should have been higher. It had to be either 3-0 or 4-0. We blew a lot of opportunities there,” Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag said. “In the early going, you want to score, complete, and kill the game. That is always essential. You don’t get many chances in big games, so you have to capitalize on them.”
For more football scores, click here
