Premier League: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Man United
At the final whistle it felt appropriate to wonder which manager would feel more downbeat. Sean Dyche after being denied a first league win in charge of Nottingham Forest after his side’s weakness at set pieces was again punished? Or Ruben Amorim, who could not celebrate his first anniversary in charge of Manchester United with a victory?
Until Forest scored twice inside 102 seconds at the beginning of the second half, United appeared in control courtesy of a Casemiro header at a corner, controversially awarded after Nicolò Savona was deemed by the officials to have failed to keep a Bruno Fernandes pass in play. In the end a stunning volley by Amad Diallo earned United a deserved point.
Dyche’s arrival was supposed to remedy Forest’s vulnerability at set pieces. But six days after conceding directly from a corner in his first league game at Bournemouth, Forest conceded two more goals from corners. Regardless of whether the first goal came from a corner that was correctly awarded or not, Forest’s defending was suspect. Fernandes arced his inswinging cross into the box and Casemiro rose unmarked, popping up behind the Forest substitute Ryan Yates, who had replaced the injured Douglas Luiz, and headed past Matz Sels. Forest have conceded a joint-league-high nine goals from set pieces this season and it turns out it is not a problem exclusive to Ange Postecoglou; his Forest side conceded 11 set-piece goals across his 40-day tenure.
Dyche and his assistant, Ian Woan, immediately asked questions of the fourth official, Robert Madley, after Casemiro ran off in celebration and Elliot Anderson quizzed the assistant referee, Akil Howson, after the referee, Darren England, blew his whistle for half-time. The officials were given a guard of honour of sorts by stewards as they headed down the tunnel. Forest’s pain was United’s joy and Amorim’s side had been bright. Benjamin Sesko saw an early shot deflected wide by Nikola Milenkovic and later powered wide after a neat one-two with Matheus Cunha. Sesko had another chance when Bryan Mbeumo bent a pass into his path from inside the United half, but the striker could not seize on Murillo’s miskick, his heavy touch preventing him from making a clear run at goal.
Forest could point to a couple of first-half nearly-moments themselves, and five minutes into the second half suddenly the sense of injustice did not sting in quite the same way. Anderson pinged a simmering diagonal pass from left to right for Dan Ndoye, who passed infield to Yates. Forest’s club captain chipped a cross towards the back post, where Morgan Gibbs-White kept Diallo at arm’s length to send a header into the far corner.
If that felt good for Forest, it was nothing compared with what followed 39 seconds after the restart, Savona beating Senne Lammens from close range. Igor Jesus challenged for a high ball in the box, getting the better of three United black shirts, and then the ball broke for Savona, who was hungrier than Diogo Dalot, and the Italian controlled the ball with the studs of his left boot before prodding in. Sesko put the ball back on the spot as Forest savoured the moment and, in truth, United never really recovered from those lapses.
Diallo struggled defensively at right wing-back and Dalot was overrun on the other flank, replaced by Patrick Dorgu midway through the second half. Fernandes sent a clever effort against a post on the hour and Murillo did just enough to prevent Casemiro from a clean go at the rebound, but the visitors no longer had this game in their grasp. Callum Hudson-Odoi impressed in attack and defence for Forest, who seemed intent on adding a third. Igor Jesus enjoyed himself against Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt, sending a header wide, and Hudson-Odoi sent a dipping effort close.
Dyche tapped his temples furiously after gaining the lead and, in fairness, it was hard to criticise their defending for United’s equaliser. Milenkovic cleared a United corner to the edge of the box and what happened next was spectacular, Diallo dispatching a sweet volley into the top corner.