Man Utd is third in the Premier League
Despite only scoring two goals, Man Utd's attack played one of the best away matches this season. Without the excellence of goalkeeper Keylor Navas, the score would have been darker. In the whole match, Man Utd shot 22 times, including eight times when the ball hit the goal, reaching the expected goal index (xG) up to 3.84. Nottingham Forest also made it difficult for the visitors' defense at times, but never made David De Gea show his talent.
Right before the game, coach Erik ten Hag changed the position of the attacker in the starting lineup. Marcel Sabitzer, who scored twice in the 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the middle of the week, hurt during the warm-up. Christian Eriksen, therefore, got his first start since January. The arrival of the Danish midfielder helped Man Utd move the ball smoothly, in the last third of the field on the opponent's side.
The two teams played together in the first half hour, with many clear opportunities for Man Utd. Almost all the away players played well, with the exception of Harry Maguire. The England international received a yellow card in the third minute and has shown signs of psychology since then. He often failed to pass, as well as lost his breath in the duel with the host's attacker.
Maguire also nearly caused a penalty in the 20th minute, when the ball touched his hand in the penalty area. But the referee said no to the penalty, in Nottingham Forest's reaction. From another corner, home defender Scott McKenna's header hit the post from close range.
Escaping from fixed situations, Man Utd opened the scoring in the 32nd minute thanks to the efforts of Anthony Martial. The French striker stole the ball from the Nottingham Forest defender, then received a one-touch pass from Bruno Fernandes. Martial could not beat Navas in the face-to-face position, but Antony was present in time to kick the goal.
The match in the second half was not much different from the first half, when Man Utd pressed the host and created many waves. At the beginning of the half, Navas saved two of Fernandes' tight shots from the edge of the penalty area. Nottingham Forest must raise the squad to find an equalizer, opening up more space for Man Utd's attack. From such a situation, Antony dribbled from the wing into the center, poked a gap just enough for defender Diogo Dalot to cross and finish to seal a 2-0 victory.
The win puts United on a good footing for the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Sevilla in the middle of this week, as well as the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton at the weekend. On the Premier League scorecard, Man Utd rose to third, with three points more than Newcastle and six points more than Tottenham. Nottingham Forest ranked 18th, with 27 points. They are only inferior to the team ranked above Everton, but the 10-match unbeaten run of Cooper's teachers and students is alarming.
