Man Utd 2-3 Nottingham Forest: Ruben Amorim beaten at Old Trafford for first time as Forest move fifth

Report and free match highlights as goals from Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood moved Forest up to fifth in the Premier League table with a 3-2 win over Manchester United as Ruben Amorim loses at Old Trafford for the first time

Adam Bate

Comment and Analysis @ghostgoal

Sunday 8 December 2024 07:12, UK

Manchester United were beaten 3-2 by Nottingham Forest as Ruben Amorim lost for the first time at Old Trafford.

Nikola Milenkovic headed Forest in front inside two minutes but United responded through Rasmus Hojlund only to gift the lead back to Nuno Espirito Santo's side early in the second half following a bizarre piece of goalkeeping by Andre Onana.

Morgan Gibbs-White's swerving shot completely wrong-footed him, finding its way into the net, and when Chris Wood doubled Forest's advantage soon afterwards, the game looked like it was going away from Ruben Amorim and his players very quickly.

Player ratings

Man Utd: Onana (4), Yoro (6), De Ligt (6), Martinez (5), Amad (7), Ugarte (7), Mainoo (6), Dalot (5), Fernandes (6), Garnacho (5), Hojlund (6).

Subs used: Rashford (5), Maguire (5), Mazraoui (6), Mount (6), Zirkzee (6).

Nottingham Forest: Sels (7), Williams (7), Milenkovic (8), Murillo (7), Aina (7), Yates (7), Anderson (7), Jota (7), Gibbs-White (8), Hudson-Odoi (7), Wood (7).

Subs used: Morato (6), Dominguez (6), Elanga (6), Awoniyi (n/a).

Player of the match: Morgan Gibbs-White.

Bruno Fernandes pulled one back for United with a neat finish but was then substituted and United subsequently lacked the creativity needed to find the equaliser against a resilient Forest team that clung on for their first win at Old Trafford in 30 years.

Nuno's team are up to fifth in the Premier League table. As for United, they are down in 13th. Amorim had only ever lost back-to-back top-flight league games once before in his coaching career. It has not taken him long to experience that at Manchester United.

Analysing Onana's huge mistake

Nottingham Forest goalscorer Morgan Gibbs White speaking to Sky Sports:

"I didn't [think it was going in] at all, to be fair. I don't want to discredit Onana, he's an incredible goalkeeper, but when I had the shot, I thought he was going to pick it up."

Former Man Utd defender Phil Jones to Sky Sports:

"What I will say is: he will be disappointed with that. It will be a tough watch. It's one of the knuckleball ones, but he should be saving it.

"He's made a mistake, but he has been one of the better goalkeepers this season."

Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp's view on the error:

"You can't defend him there. He's falling backwards, his balance is wrong, he's got his weight on his heels.

"I never played in goal, I didn't even do it in training. But that is fundamentally really bad goalkeeping. You can talk about tactical tweaks all you like, but that goal changed everything. You're on the back foot."

Nuno: Gibbs-White goal changed it

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo in his press conference:

"If you tell me the moment that changed everything, it's when we recovered the ball very high and scored [the second goal]. Then we scored again. We thought United were going to react and then it was about unity, about hard work.

"It was a big demanding game. Fresh legs helped a bit. The energy really impacted the game. But I think we were brave, especially in the beginning of the second half. It was really nice to see the players going forward and recovering."

"It means a lot for the club. So much time for special moments like this. We should celebrate and be proud of us. I'm very proud of being part of this group of players and the squad. We are trying to do something together, something nice."

Amorim: Onana saved us a lot

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim speaking in his press conference:

"Onana already saved us a lot of times. So we have to find a way when this happens to Anana, or to Altay [Bayindir], or to Tom [Heaton], we have to turn around and score two goals to help our goalkeeper. The same way that he saved us, for example, in Ipswich. We lose as a team."

On suffering back-to-back defeats…

"I had this and worse in Sporting in the beginning. I know the feeling for me is the same. For the world it's completely different because you know Sporting is in Portugal, but in Manchester you have a lot of attention, but for me it's the same. The same feeling.

"I had this period in Sporting. And if you are a little bit experienced in football, this happens with a lot of clubs. And we have to manage to continue to do the same things and improving the team because this will turn around. So we need time and we need to continue to work in the same way every day."

Errors undermine Amorim's plans

Amorim has certainly changed the style of play at United, switching the formation too. They are trying to be more patient but this defeat represents a real setback. There was a noticeable uncertainty, a lack of belief as they chased the game in the latter stages.

At Ipswich, much of the possession was inside their own half. Here, they were able to edge closer to the opposition goal, having 71.6 per cent of the ball. For context, they only had that much possession once under Erik ten Hag - in a defeat to Crystal Palace.

But the lack of creativity was alarming, particularly once Fernandes had been withdrawn. United were no doubt stifled by Nuno's impressive game-management too. His cautious substitutions left Harry Maguire with time on the ball. He was unable to use it.

Amorim will want to turn United into a team that can dominate the ball with confidence and the example of the first goal - Matthijs de Ligt threading a pass through to prompt the move - will be one that he will point to as evidence that it can be effective.

But what followed was a reminder that this team is still too fragile, prone to inexplicable errors that can undermine the best laid plans. This job will take time to get right. And their next Premier League game is the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium, live on Sky Sports.