Manchester United welcome Nottingham Forest to Old Trafford for the second time this season, this time in the Carabao Cup semi final second leg. United lead 3-0 on aggregate after goals from Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst and Bruno Fernandes in the first leg which puts United in a great position to earn their first Cup Final of the Erik ten Hag era of the club. United have found massive improvement under the Dutchman this season, which is clear to see.
United also earned a place in the Emirates FA Cup fifth round after beating Reading 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday evening. A brace from Casemiro and a goal from Fred saw United through although after Andy Carroll was sent off for Reading, which in turn seemed to injure Christian Eriksen, Reading got a consolation goal. It means that United still fight in all four competitions they started the season in; the Premier League, UEFA Europa League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
Bruno Fernandes has been involved in five goal contributions in his last five matches, scoring three (Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Forest) and assisting twice (Arsenal and Reading). Today marks three years since he signed for United and in 156 appearances to date has 56 goals and 46 assists in all competitions – 102 goal contributions. His form may not be the same as it was when he arrived in January 2020, but he’s inspired right now to achieve.
Manchester United
Heaton;
Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw;
Fernandes, Casemiro, Fred;
Antony, Weghorst, Garnacho
Substitutes
De Gea; Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia; Pellistri, Mainoo; Martial, Rashford, Sancho
Nottingham Forest
Hennessey;
Williams, McKenna, Boly, Lodi;
Freuler, Mangala, Scarpa;
Johnson, Surridge, Dennis
Substitutes
Aurier, Worrall, Cook, Hammond, Shelvey, Danilo, Osong, Mighten
United and Forest have met 107 in all competitions, meeting for the first time back in 1892, a 1-1 draw between Forest and Newton Heath. United have won 50 times, drawn 24 times and lost 33 times. The last defeat to Forest was back in 1994; a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford in the Premier League. Stan Collymore and Stuart Pearce put Forest 2-0 up before Eric Cantona scored. Since then, nine matches have been played; one draw and eight consecutive wins.
In the League Cup, United and Forest have met four times with United winning all four of them; 1983, a 4-0 victory. 1992, a 1-0 victory. 1998, a 2-1 victory and the first leg of the semi final in 2023, a 3-0 victory. United have scored ten goals, conceding once and keeping three clean sheets in the League Cup against Forest. Having a 3-0 aggregate heading into the second leg at Old Trafford gives United a massive advantage on their way to Wembley.
Jonathan Greening, Scott Wootton, Roy Keane, Danny Higginbotham, Lee Martin, Andy Cole, John Curtis, Viv Anderson, Teddy Sheringham, Michael Stewart, Federico Macheda, Neil Webb, Saidy Janko, Jesse Lingard and Dean Henderson have all played for both United and Forest. The stand out players here are Roy Keane, who signed for United just £3.75 million, Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham – who all won the treble with United in the 1998/99 season.
Written by John Walker
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