Manchester United’s winning streak is now merely a four-game unbeaten run after the Red Devils blew an early lead but rallied to draw Nottingham Forest 2-2 at the City Ground on Saturday.
MORE — Ruben Amorim reacts to performance, draw, Amad Diallo goal
Casemiro put United on top by halftime but Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Saviola scored two minutes apart early in the second half to put Forest on top and on pace for a famous first win for new boss Sean Dyche.
Amad Diallo had other ideas, scoring a wonderful late goal to set the stage for a terrific finish.
WATCH – Nottingham Forest v Manchester United
Man Utd climb into fifth, a point clear of Man City for at least a day. Forest now have six points, four behind 17th-place Burnley.
Nottingham Forest, Manchester United get differing progress reports
Let’s start with Forest, because this is straight-forward: Sean Dyche has the Tricky Trees in a more comfortable position on the field. They are defending with vigor but hungry for the ball, and it’s a quicker fix for them than the time line under Ange Postecoglou (Probably not the same as just keeping Nuno Espirito Santo around, but alas). Manchester United, on the other hand, showed us the difference between being a top-four probability and a top-four hopeful. The Red Devils are not yet at a point where they can immediately rally for lapses and out-chance opponents on a consistent basis. They may be coming back from their long-term attitude illness, but they still have some of the symptoms of the sick. A year from now, Man United may be a side that can outclass their bad moments but Ruben Amorim’s men aren’t there yet. Amorim acknowledged after the game that he can fall victim to overlooking the positives during less-than-ideal displays and we won’t do that here. Manchester United may well finish in the top four, but they’re still well away from holding favorites’ status. (NM)
What’s next?
Man United have nearly a full week to prepare for a visit to Tottenham Hotspur at 7:30am ET Saturday.
Forest are busier. They head to Austria for a Europa League scrap with Sturm Graz at 12:45pm Thursday, then return home for Leeds United in the Premier League at 9am Sunday, November 9.
How to watch Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 11am ET Saturday (November 1)
Venue: City Ground — Nottingham
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United live updates — by Nick Mendola
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United final score: 2-2
Casemiro 34', Morgan Gibbs-White 48', Nicolo Savona 50', Amad Diallo 82'
Murillo saves a point!
Matz Sels can only punch away a Matthijs de Ligt header, and Amad snaps into the rebound.
It would’ve been a second sweet side-volleyed goal but Murillo makes a dramatic goal line clearance.
Minimum five minutes stoppage
Forest, at the moment, looking more likely to find a winner.
Amad Diallo goal — Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United
A ball swept into the mix is header back out atop the 18.
Amad Diallo can barely reach it but somehow keeps his composure to deliver sublime technique and cushion shot past a flying Matz Sels.
Wow. 2-2 in the 84th.
Subs
United make their second switch after bringing off Dalot for Patrick Dorgu in the 68th minute. Now it’s Noussair Mazraoui for Leny Yoro in the 77th.
Forest make a move, too, taking off Igor Jesus for Taiwo Awoniyi.
The Tricky Trees are 13 minutes plus stoppage from a famous win for Sean Dyche against a team that the lifelong Forest man would relish registering as his first ‘W’ as manager.
Nicolo Savona goal — Nottingham Forest 1-1 Man United
Igor Jesus rises high to nod down a cross and Nicolo Savona beats Diogo Dalot to the loose ball and poke it past Lammens.
Two goals in two minutes, and United go from the lead to behind in a hurry!
Morgan Gibbs-White goal — Nottingham Forest 1-1 Man United
Ryan Yates chips in a cross toward penalty spot, and it’s going to take some header to get it over the line.
Morgan Gibbs-White does just that, craning his neck to add power to a header after beating Amad Diallo to the ball.
1-1.
Halftime — Nottingham Forest 0-1 Manchester United
Forest should’ve defended the corner better, but the corner shouldn’t have been given either — sign us up for Sean Dyche’s post-match thoughts if this ends 1-0.
United have had more of the ball — 56% — but Forest are out-attempting the visitors 7-5 and are leading the xG scrap 0.43-0.32.
We don’t know how Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis sees it, but Dyche has his team looking as good as they have this season.
Forest chance!
Senne Lammens makes a strong save on a bounding, close-range Dan Ndoye shot.
The flag is up and it looks like the right call, but it’s another sign that Man Utd may have their keeper.
(Controversial) Casemiro goal — Nottingham Forest 0-1 Man Utd
Nicolo Savola in furious at the awarding of a corner kick to Man Utd as he desperately works to keep the ball inside the field of play and appears to do so.
And like clockwork — and VAR can’t intervene here — Casemiro thuds a header home off the ensuing corner. That’s back-to-back weeks that Forest have conceded off what they believe to be a falsely-awarded corner.
United lead in the 34th minute.
Better from Forest
Dyche’s training clearly has found its target in the minds of Forest, who are defense-first — yes, like Nuno Espirito Santo — but also a bit more possession-minded or at least press-ready.
Still scoreless now into the 24th minute.
Douglas Luiz injury
The Juve loanee tries to work through a hamstring injury but cannot continue in the middle of the park.
He’ll get some treatment on the field, surely in a bid to give Ryan Yates a bit more time to ready himself.
0-0, 13'.
Sesko the target man
Man United win a 3rd-minute corner on their second foray into Forest’s third.
The first was a play from the left that didn’t reach Benjamin Sesko, the second saw Bryan Mbeumo find Sesko for a deflected shot.
A pair of corners are defended by Forest.
Ruben Amorim pregame thoughts
“The first thing is forget about the last games. We need to do it all over again. For that we need to stay really humble and be really aggressive. We know what type of team we face today. I feel really good that we can continue to win games.”
Nottingham Forest lineup
Sels, Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Savona, Anderson, Luiz, Ndoye, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus
Manchester United lineup
Lammens, Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw, Dalot, Fernandes, Casemiro, Diallo, Mbeumo, Cunha, Sesko
Nottingham Forest team news, focus
Ola Aina remains out while Chris Wood and Oleksandr Zinchenko are also still out. Forest have lined up with a pretty settled 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation in their two games under Dyche so far and we should expect more of the same. Forest are getting back to playing to their strengths by being tough to break down and rapid on the counter. Dyche is the perfect manager to make that happen but Forest have to stop making silly errors at the back to get back to winning ways and climb the table.
Manchester United team news, focus
United have looked really impressive in attack in recent weeks with Mbeumo scoring three times in his last two games and Cunha adding so much drive and creativity after his return from injury. The balance just feels right with goalkeeper Senne Lammens providing calmness in defense. That said, United did slip into some old habits at the end of their win against Brighton last weekend by coughing up a few goals and Amorim will want to stamp that out right away. Injuries have been kind to United so far this season too, with Harry Maguire recovering from a knock and Lisandro Martinez almost back after his long-term knee injury. If United win this weekend they could climb as high as second in the table. That is nose bleed territory for them after the last few years...
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United preview
Ruben Amorim is a year into the gigantic job of turning Man United around and finally it feels like he’s getting somewhere.
Sean Dyche took over at Forest last week and after guiding them to an impressive 2-0 victory against FC Porto in the UEFA Europa League, normal service resumed last weekend as they lost 2-0 at Bournemouth. That leaves this talented Forest side in the relegation zone in the Premier League with five points from their first nine games. Dyche knows he has to get Forest firing in attack but also shore things up at the back, especially on the counter and from set pieces.
United looked dangerous whenever they went forward in their thrilling 4-2 home win against Brighton last weekend. Ruben Amorim’s side have become more clinical in recent weeks and are full of confidence on the ball. Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko are also building a really good understanding too, as everything is looking good for United. For now. Having extra time on the training ground each week certainly seems to be helping Amorim out.
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United prediction
This will be a tight, tense game and it will be decided by a moment of quality or a mistake. United have quality in abundance in attack so let’s give them the win. Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester United.
