Man Utd 3
Notts. Forest 2
United started the game in the worst possible way – conceding 2 goals within the first 5 minutes. The way our defence was caught off guard so early is alarming, possibly even frustrating. And to add insult to injury, we went further behind 2 minutes later when our defence failed to clear a corner and the Forest player inadvertently headed in. Shambolic defending and I must add that Onana did not seem too reactive. A collective mess that needed recovering from.
There was a strong reaction, rightly so, and Eriksen pulled one back when Rashford took on his player and delivered a dangerous ball in the box which was turned in by Eriksen with a deft touch. Forest defended in numbers and despite much possession there was no penetration from the United midfield and forwards. Forest rarely ventured forward but our defence seemed exposed every time they tried to. 1-2 down at HT, but surely this game could be recovered in the second half!
Lindelof came in for Varane at HT and Casemiro equalised after an assist by Bruno who played better today. With 40 minutes to go, I expected that we would go on and get the winner. We did. Through a penalty by Bruno after a foul on Rashford, who despite playing well below his level still contributed to 2 goals out of 3.
Forest were down to 10 men by the time Bruno dispatched the penalty and the tide seemed to have turned in our favour. But despite playing against 10 men, United failed to capitalise and it was Forest who came close when Onana had to save a shot from inside the box.
An important 3 points but this match, I am sure, will leave fans asking a lot of questions. United are not playing good football, we still struggle to create chances and Martial seemed to be not bothered – which makes me think that we will have to rely heavily on the young shoulders of Hoylund. Fingers crossed on that one.
On a positive note, we showed good fighting spirit, spurred on by the OT crowd, but the gut feeling I have is that ETH has not got it right so far this season and next up is a tough test vs the Gunners. Last season it was the win against Arsenal that pretty much took us out of the early crisis. Let’s hope we raise our game and kick-start our season because despite the 6 points, I still feel we are struggling…..NUMQUAM MORIBIMUR!