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Ben Fisher was at the City Ground tonight. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Nuno Espírito Santo, whose side are edging ever closer to the Champions League, ten points clear of sixth-placed Newcastle, speaks to TNT Sports. “Suffer … heart … belief … helping each other … clearance on the line … it was a very hard game for us … every single player is huge … we are going to need all of them going forward … Anthony Elanga is a special boy … speed … control … it was huge and we are delighted … Ryan Yates is a special player for us … the heart of the team … today the City Ground was part of the game also … we were against the ropes … no need to hide it, after a long game in the FA Cup … the City Ground helped us … let’s focus on the next game … it’s day by day … let’s prepare it well.”
A clearly frustrated Ruben Amorim speaks to TNT. “We controlled the game … we knew this team could score goals out of nothing … when they score we changed the game a little bit for what they want … we tried for some very good opportunities … in the last third, the last cross, the last pass, the last assist wasn’t there … when we don’t have that we cannot score goals … this season is like that … we had a lot of shots on goal … in the end we had a lack of quality in the final third … we need to win games … we deserved more in this game … it was our fault … we need to be better in the last third … we cannot concede in the transition of a set piece … we should have won this game, not even draw … in the end we lost three points … you know the characteristics of the team … one goal put them in the situation they love … more space for transitions and we have to score two to win … that is frustrating … it was in the beginning of the game … we helped them to win three points … I see [progress] in the game … I don’t lie to myself … I see some things … but we need to win games … we have the Europa League and the next game in the Premier League … that is the focus.”
The match-winner and man of match Anthony Elanga speaks to TNT. “I’m pretty fast … it’s just about attacking the space … that’s how you hurt the opposition … I believe I’m one of the fastest players in the league so if I am going to back that, I have to show it on the pitch … if it’s left foot or right, I’m comfortable on both feet … coming here is about playing … I know I’m not the finished article … I appreciate Manchester United so much … I learned a lot there … I took another step to come here and learn a different type of football … I want to keep learning and improving … I’ll be in the recovery room for a good two and a half hours! … I’ve got to mention Murillo’s block … that means more than a goal … another clean sheet … [the defence] have been fantastic … every player can play every position … the togetherness is important and it shows on the pitch … 13 clean sheets!”
A genuine sense from these interviews that Nuno has fashioned a proper team at Forest. Real one-for-all spirit.
Forest captain Ryan Yates talks to TNT. “After 120 minutes the other day … it’s unbelievable … the determination … just buzzing to keep the run going … we’re having a great season … the past two seasons were just about staying up … we’ve got momentum … the crowd were incredible … be your best every single day … put the team above yourself … that’s our philosophy … each game as it comes.”
He’s also told Anthony Elanga has been named man of the match. “Aw, he deserves it! … apparently I’ve got an assist for [the goal] … I headed it on the six-yard box! … he deserves it … his work-rate off the ball … his game has come on no end … he’s a dream for a midfielder … just give him the ball and he does the rest.”
A lovely hug between Yates and his former manager Martin O’Neill too. O’Neill plainly so proud of his one-time charge. All of that was lovely to watch.
The City Ground in party mode. United look a little shell-shocked. They dominated possession and created plenty of opportunities to score … but never really looked like taking any of them until Harry Maguire prodded the ball past Matz Sels with seconds left on the clock. Murillo was on point to deny the makeshift number nine. The visitors will perhaps feel aggrieved to come away with nothing … but then again Forest were their usual street-fighting selves, defensively brilliant, and scored a goal of rare counter-attacking brilliance thanks to Anthony Elanga’s nine-second, 85-metre dash. A deserved win for the hosts? Both things can be true at once.
The whistle goes and Forest have completed the league double over United! Anthony Elanga’s goal worthy of winning any match!
90 min +7: Dalot swings the ball in from the right. Maguire battles at the far stick, and somehow manages to sweep the ball past Sels and towards the goal … only for Murillo to hook clear off the line! Eriksen then lashes a shot over and that should be that.
Harry Maguire has his last-ditch effort cleared off the line! Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Nigel French/Apl/Sportsphoto
90 min +5: Gibbs-White strides down the right with United light at the back. He should head towards the corner flag, but attempts to find Sosa with a difficult pullback instead. Wrong choice, and a chance for United to launch one last attack.
90 min +4: Dominguez goes down in the clock-management style.
90 min +3: Garnacho has another couple of long-distance efforts blocked. United are flinging the ball at Forest from all angles. But they’re not creating much.
90 min +2: Dorgu reaches the byline down the left. He cuts back. Maguire wins a header, six yards out, but slaps it wide left. To be fair, he saw it late and did well to win the header at all under pressure. But it’s a close-range miss in the final analysis. The crowd mock.
90 min +1: The first of six added minutes sees Mazraoui crumble in the Forest box, claiming a penalty. He’s not getting one.
90 min: Sangare, out on the left, plays a cute diagonal pass towards Williams, romping in from the right. The ball sits up nicely for Williams, who whacks a first-time effort over the bar. That would have been a spectacular one.
89 min: Garnacho wins a corner down the left. Eriksen takes. Dominguez heads clear. Fernandes sends the ball back into the mixer but it’s an easy pick for Sels.
88 min: Maguire replaces Yoro. Looks like he’s going up top in the old-school style.
Harry Maguire is playing up front for United. Glorious scenes. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
86 min: Elanga, who will be tonight’s match-winner unless United can pull something out of the bag in dramatic style, gets the reception he deserves for his goal and overall performance as he’s replaced by Sosa. Sangare meanwhile comes on for Awoniyi.
84 min: Yates volleys wide left from an ambitions distance.
82 min: Elanga looks like burning past Yoro in a footrace down the right. He’s just about to enter the box before Yoro extends a leg telescopically to poke the ball away from the attacker. Such a fine tackle. Perfectly timed. It had to be!
Leny Yoro gets a touch ahead of Anthony Elanga to clear the danger. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters
80 min: Mount very nearly scores with his first touch! Milenkovic plays a dreadful pass out from the back. Mount intercepts on the edge of the D, opens his body, and curls inches wide of the right-hand post. Gibbs-White gives his defender the what-for, and the situation descends into a blazing row between the team-mates. They’ve eventually pulled apart before something silly happens.
79 min: The lesser-spotted Mason Mount comes on for Zirkzee.
78 min: United win a corner, and once again allow Forest to launch a counter from it. Eriksen is forced to take one for the team, tugging Elanga back and earning himself a booking.
76 min: Chances at both ends. Dalot crosses from the right. Dorgu aims a header towards the top left, but Sels gathers. Then Gibbs-White sashays his way down the middle and into the United box, but takes one touch too many and never gets a shot away.
75 min: Hojlund chases a long pass down the left and reaches the byline. For a second, as he tiptoes along the white line, there’s space and time to shoot. But he faffs and the chance is gone. He lays back for Garnacho, whose snapshot is blocked by Williams.
73 min: Garnacho cuts in from his wing and skelps a wild, wild shot over the bar. He’s been erratic, but also United’s most dangerous player during this second half.
72 min: Garnacho dances in from the left touchline and is clipped from behind by Williams, who goes into the book. Williams isn’t happy about it – “First one! First one!” – but he was nowhere near the ball and one is enough. The resulting free kick is hoicked into the box. Hojlund can’t get a meaningful header away and it’s an easy claim for Sels.
70 min: From the resulting corner, Garnacho drags a shot wide left.
it’s not been Alejandro Garnacho’s night. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
69 min: Fernandes, quarterbacking from deep, sprays a long diagonal towards Garnacho on the left. Garnacho takes the ball in his stride, while running at full pelt, and enters the box … only for Yates to stick out a toe and deflect his shot wide right of goal. That’s fine football all round.
67 min: Dominguez comes on for Anderson.
66 min: Garnacho is booked for kicking the ball away in a frustrated manner, having been flagged offside.
65 min: … nowt occurs. A long ball blootered forward, and Awoniyi briefly threatens to outmuscle last-man De Ligt, but eventually loses the battle. Staunch defending in the end by De Ligt.
64 min: Garnacho probes down the left and wins a corner. From which …
62 min: Yates is nutmegged by Fernandes and clips his man on the follow-through. He’s lucky not to go into the book. Fernandes makes his feelings on the matter known to officialdom.
60 min: Moreno barges his way down the left touchline before sending Awoniyi clear on the overlap. A cross is high-kicked behind by Fernandes. Forest preposterously claim a penalty, but they’re not getting one. Nothing comes of the set piece they do have.
59 min: Casemiro’s treading a fine line, though, and so Ruben Amorim replaces him with Eriksen. That’s smart management.
57 min: Casemiro stands in the way of an in-flight Gibbs-White. The home fans want a second yellow, but the referee isn’t minded to spark the tinder box, and instead settles for a brief chat. To be fair to Casemiro, he took a sore whack in the face when challenging his opponent, and that’s probably punishment enough.
55 min: Anderson has the opportunity to take a whack from just outside the United box. Instead he tries to find Awoniyi with an overly elaborate scooped pass, and the ball sails harmlessly out for a goal kick. Forest have been better in attack since the restart.
53 min: Dorgu skittles Williams, just to the right of the United box. No free kick. Now it’s Williams’ turn to give the nearest official the what-for. It wouldn’t take too much for this match to seriously overheat. On this very subject, Tim Stappard suggests: “I think Bruno’s on a red-card mist tonight.”
51 min: From the resulting free kick, Gibbs-White glides infield from the right and enters the box. He should work Onana at the very least, but lashes a wild shot over the bar. United, who were dozing defensively, get away with a big one.
50 min: Casemiro slides through the back of Yates and is booked. He’s absolutely livid at being carded, and nearly oversteps the mark when arguing his point. His team-mates pull him away from the referee.
Casemiro is shown a yellow card by referee Jarred Gillett. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters
49 min: The corner’s half cleared. Williams finds Elanga down the right. A cross whipped to the near stick. Yates heads downwards, only for Onana to claw sensationally out of the bottom-right corner. But the flag goes up for offside, correctly so.
48 min: Yates swivels on a loose ball 25 yards from the United goal. He pearls a shot that’s deflected wide right. Elanga wanders over to take this one.
47 min: Hojlund is immediately into the thick of the action, latching onto Garnacho’s pass down the inside-right channel and sending a low shot goalwards from a tight angle. It’s deflected out for a corner, from which Fernandes finds Casemiro, who aims a header towards the top right. Easy for Sels, but Forest are giving up chances when defending corners.
Forest get the second half underway. United have made a change, sending on Hojlund in place of Ugarte.
Half-time entertainment. Forest, two-time champions of Europe, are a big noise again after a long period in the doldrums. Here’s a tale of another famous club – one that gave the world Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira – rising again after some tough times.
United have had the majority of possession, but they couldn’t stop their old boy Anthony Elanga in sprint-dribbling all the way upfield to score a quite stunning goal on the counter. Forest’s bid for Champions League football next season continues apace.
45 min +6: Fernandes rolls a pass, left to right, across the face of the Forest box, inviting Casemiro to have a dig. Casemiro catches the shot well, but it’s way off target to the left. The home fans enjoyed that.
45 min +4: Garnacho powers his way down the right and threatens to burst clear … only for Milenkovic to step across and intervene with a perfectly-timed tackle. “Thanks to Steve Pye for that great 80’s blog,” begins Justin Kavanagh. “I never knew about Gordon McQueen punching Gary Bailey in the face at the City Ground. The blue-eyed blond Scotsman wasn’t for being bossed by a posh boy, I suppose. So today’s equivalent would be what, De Ligt clocking Onana? If I was Peter Oh, I’d add something here about the Dutch man’s weight class, but there’s another open goal I’ve missed. The Garry Birtles of the MBM, that’s me.”
45 min +2: The free kick’s sent into the United box. Morato aims a looping header towards the top-left corner. Onana plucks it out of the air just before it crosses the line.
45 min +1: … and probably more, as De Ligt goes crashing into Awoniyi, conceding a foul and hurting himself in the process. It takes De Ligt a while to pick himself back up.
45 min: There will be six additional first-half minutes.
44 min: … and now Fernandes has a nibble at Yates’ ankle. The United captain may be in one-more-and-you’re-booked territory. Nothing too dramatic yet, but there’s a little bit of niggle in this match now.
43 min: Ugarte tries to scrap his way down the right but is shoved off the ball. He wants a free kick but isn’t getting one. He waves his arms about in the theatrical style.
41 min: Fernandes and Yates get involved in some petulant shoving. The captains, folks, two grown-ups. The referee reminds them of their age.
40 min: Forest also make a tactical change, sacrificing Danilo for a third central defender in Morato. United have been on top, despite the scoreline, so there’s Nuno’s response.
39 min: Moreno comes on for the stricken Aina.
38 min: … but no, he can’t put any weight on his leg and is helped down the tunnel. His evening is over. Forest down to ten men for now. It’s like the 1959 FA Cup final all over again.
37 min: Aina doesn’t look particularly comfortable. He takes a while to gather himself up.
36 min: Aina goes down and requires some treatment. Meanwhile here’s a stat courtesy of TNT Sports: in scoring the goal, Elanga covered 85 metres of the pitch in nine seconds.
Ola Aina goes down with a nasty looking injury. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
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