Forest’s trip to Old Trafford almost inevitably was going to end in disappointment but coming away with frustration means that things are heading in the right direction. Here are my views on was a thoroughly entertaining game of football.
An incredible goal
Taiwo Awonyi’s seventh successive goal in a Forest shirt was one to behold. I’ve not seen a goal like it since the Simon Cup Final at Wembley in 1989 when Garry Parker ran the length of the pitch to grab a Forest goal in some style.
Whilst any goal in a cup final is one to savour, one at Old Trafford is none too shabby and Taiwo’s was one of strength and power that we’ve not seen in a Forest shirt for a very long time. Despite missing a fair bit of pre-season, Taiwo looks an absolute beast of an athlete, looking so much sleeker than when he made his debut just over a year ago.
If his movement against Arsenal wasn’t a thing to behold when he pulled a goal back following a fabulous counter attack, yesterday’s 3rd minute opener set his bar for the season just that little more higher. With a terrific determined run to latch onto Gibbs-White’s crucial header, he ran a good 60 yards before sitting down £50m goalkeeper Andre Onana on his back side before slotting home. Outpacing Marcus Rashford on the run to goal is not to be sniffed at.
It has been a fairly incredible turnaround for Taiwo since he returned to action at the back end of last season to essentially keep us up. He looks fitter, leaner and sharper than he ever has since arriving on Trentside. Taiwo had been ridiculed from certain sections of the fanbase but the improvement in his game and own physicality is testament to his dedication and the hard work of staff on the training pitch.
Dreamland
Following Wily Boly’s reaction header to put Forest two nil up, this was certainly a case of pinching myself, as we completely silenced the home crowd and observe a few United fans looking for the exits already. #TenHaag out was already trending as soon as the ball hit the back of the net. For a side that looked completely powder puff in all four of last season’s fixtures against the United with no goals registered, it was most welcome that we were more than flexing our muscles after five minutes.
United comeback
Scoring so early on never seems to serve Forest so well and in my 40 years of supporting, it was still fairly inevitable that United were still going to be in pole position for an eventual outcome. They’d barely gotten out of their warm up gear. With 91% possession showing up in the stats after 10 minutes, and some sloppy passing from ourselves to assist, it wasn’t a surprise that the home side were back in it through Christian Eriksens goal.
Frustratingly, we should have done a lot better. Wily Boly should have doubled up with Aurier on Rashford to help prevent the initial cross, and there can’t be a defender on the planet that would be happy seeing the ball go through the legs of Joe Worrall, let alone Scott McKenna’s inability to get in front of Eriksen at the near post to stop his deft touch from getting United back into the game. Harsh maybe but these are the levels we are competing at. Midfielder’s should not be getting across centre halves in the six yard box for me.
United’s equaliser should have been avoided. A training ground free kick routine worked to maximum effect but as the Forest backline pushed out, Brennan found himself back tracking Bruno Fernandes when he would have been well offside if he had held the defensive line.
Brennan’s frustration was well typified as he smashed the ball into the netting after Casemiro had brought United level. Learning curves continue….
Decisions
With their tales up and the Old Trafford crowd coming to life, it was going to take a miracle to survive the onslaught but seemingly, time after time in the world of VAR, marginable decisions continue to go in favour of the bigger clubs.
This might be unpopular but I thought the tight decisions were just about correct despite being harsh. There was no way that Forest would have got similar favour in the same circumstances and it is right that Steve Cooper puts pressure on the PGMOL (as with other clubs) that VAR seems is not consistently applied for both teams on the pitch.
Worrall’s red card
United found joy with slipping in Fernandes and having watched it a few times back, Joe knows he’s in trouble in holding his shirt and falling to the ground. If he’s confident that Boly is going to get there then I’m not sure he does that. Fernandes is through on goal and there is more than an ‘if’, if Boly could get across in time. It was debatable but the trajectory of the pass was more in the Utd man’s favour. There weren’t many complaints from me.
Penalty
With the scores now level at 2-2, the game was inevitably in the hosts hands and by hook or by crook, they were going to take full advantage. Danilo got pulled in by Rashford and we’ve seen on a numerous occasion how the England striker can beat a man at will from wide positions.
Yes, the contact looked fairly minimal and almost inconclusive on the VAR check but with a stadium baying for blood, it wasn’t a surprise that the penalty was awarded. Would Forest have been given one at the other end in the same scenario with the home crowd shouting dive, I’d be fairly confident that it would not be given.
https://x.com/otfaithful/status/1696120208522416620?s=46
What’s more infuriating; when Casemiro clearly has both hands on Wily Boly as he went to ground in the United penalty, there is no VAR check. I dare to say that with United either still chasing an equaliser or going for a winner, that definitely gets a check from the eye in the sky. That’s where the bias rears itself for me. VAR should be making things fairer but I just don’t see it.
Ten men
Even going two goals up, with 85 of normal time left to play against the likes of Eriksen, Casemiro and Rashford, it was always going to be a tall order to come away with a win. With things going against us to be 3-2 down, as a supporter, the most important thing was to avoid total capitulation.
Down to ten men and Utd looking leggy, if anything it was Forest that looked the most likely to score next. Chris Wood was a whisker away from tapping in a great ball from Elanga’s bursting run from midway and Onana produced a fantastic save to deny Boly’s well struck volley from hitting the top corner.
Minnows trying to make a splash
There is still an awful long way for Forest to establish themselves as a Premier League club but losing by a goal deficit at Old Trafford and The Emirates suggests that we are beginning to believe that we can go to the higher echelons of world football without being star struck in our surroundings and get a result. The 4-2 defeat at Anfield last season was certainly a catalyst to show that we can belong and helped to preserve top level status.
United’s performance was described to me as ‘a shit show’ by a Stretford End season ticket holder on Saturday evening with a sense of relief that his side came out on the other side with three points.
Regardless of the result yesterday, all I wanted realistically was for Forest to have a go. We did that in spades at Old Trafford particularly the effort in the last 20 minutes. Rome was certainly not built in a day. Aside from the emotions, progress has to be monitored in a pragmatic approach and considering it had taken us months to register a goal away from home last season, we will continue to cause opposition defence problems this time around.
Orel Mangala was a miss in midfield with his technical ability to keep the ball and Danilo is wasted in a more deeper role with his ability to move the play with a quicker tempo. We are still in the realms of believing in our quality to keep possession but a more assured performer in the likes of PSV Eindhoven’s Sangare is exactly what is needed at this point in time to progress further.
When Forest managed to keep possession, there was no doubt about the level of headaches we posed the United backline. With better luck, Morgan Gibbs-White would have restored our two goal advantage as his shot hit Taiwo with Onana diving the wrong way from his initial shot.
Ola Aina already looks more assured than Renan Lodi in his settling in period and Anthony Elanga once more showed that he will be an asset with his ability to break with speed and show his opponent a clean pair of heels. Matt Turner looked fairly solid in goal and made a truly outstanding save to deny Antony with a curling effort from range.
There’s plenty to be optimistic about and fingers crossed, there will be a few more incomings to wet the appetite of things to come.
Here’s that Garry Parker goal for you old timers included in the highlights video below.