Manchester United had a sour end to the year against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday evening.
After Boxing Day felt like a huge step forward, this fixture was highly anticipated by fans however it became apparent early on that the same display wouldn’t be on show here.
Manchester United struggled to create any sort of opportunities in the game, registering their lowest amount of shots in a first half since 2022.
Nottingham Forest scored in the second half only for United to draw level through Marcus Rashford after an excellent piece of work to win the ball in an advanced position by Alejandro Garnacho.
It mattered little though with Morgan Gibbs White putting Forest back in the lead with an admittedly brilliant finish to ruin Erik ten Hag‘s New Year weekend.
Here’s six things we learned…
Garnacho the only light for United
United drew level with just over 10 minutes to go in the game through Rashford, however massive credit must go to Garnacho who was key in the goal.
A Matt Turner mistake in the Forest goal saw Garnacho pounce on a loose pass before setting Rashford up for the goal.
It was an excellent finish by United’s number 10, but it’s Garnacho who made it happen.
Rashford continues to build his confidence
Rashford’s confidence will be on it’s way to being sky high once more as he made it two goal contributions in two games.
While it didn’t correlate to a good result here, Rashford will no doubt individually be delighted to score.
He may have been completely ineffective up front and the goal came as he sat in a position which more resembled a left wingers.
Ten Hag caused his own problems
As United looked to continue in the same vein of form that saw them defeat Aston Villa, Ten Hag made a few poor decisions which in a way caused his own problems.
One of which was substituting Kobbie Mainoo at half-time which damaged the midfield’s balance.
Ultimately it was from the area of the pitch which Mainoo would have occupied that Nottingham Forest opened the scoring
Antony puts in an appalling display
Back in the team based purely on luck through Rasmus Hojlund being ill, many would expect Antony to be chomping at the bit to impress.
This wasn’t the case though as he looked as bad as ever on the right wing and a clear downgrade on Alejandro Garnacho starting in the same position.
There is little case to be made for Antony to start again anytime soon regardless of injuries
Rasmus Hojlund a huge miss
Say what you will about Rasmus Hojlund, but he’s an absolutely vital cog in the machine that is Ten Hag’s Manchester United.
Hojlund’s physicality and pressing up front was sorely missed with Marcus Rashford unable – or possibly unwilling – to provide the same work rate.
He is possibly the only player in the squad who can display good box presence and without him the entire team seems to falter.
Back on step one for United
Before this game, expectations and hopes were high of some good football and a positive result. However, after watching that display for 90 minutes it seems like United are back on the first rung of the ladder.
Garnacho is a bright light and it was solely down to him that United got on the scoresheet with his workrate winning back a ball not many others would be able to.
A deeply concerning evening at the City Ground which leaves Ten Hag with a lot of work to do in the new year.
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