Manchester United came from behind to beat ten man Nottingham Forest 3-2 at Old Trafford. Goals from Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes completed the turn around for Erik Ten Hag's men after early goals by Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly for the away side.
Ten Hag made three changes to his side that suffered defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Luke Shaw and Mason Mount were lost through injury and were replaced by Diogo Dalot and Eriksen. Alejandro Garnacho was put on the bench as Anthony Martial lead the line. Steve Cooper made two changes to his side that scraped past Sheffield United at the City Ground last week. Orel Mangala was not involved in the match day squad as he dropped out with Neco Williams. Ryan Yates took the Belgian's place with Ola Aina returning from injury to replace Williams.
Like they did against the Blades, Forest got off to the perfect start after two minutes. Morgan Gibbs-White headed on a clearance and sent Awoniyi through one on one with Andre Onana. The forward composed himself and rolled the ball past the former Ajax goal keeper to give Forest the lead. The Nigerian netting in his seventh straight league game which sees him join Mohamed Salah and Emmanuel Adebayor in holding the record for an African player scoring in consecutive Premier League games. A man really on form for the Reds.
That perfect start got even better just two minutes later as Boly doubled the lead for the away side. A Gibbs-White free kick from the right side was met by the defender to net his second goal for Forest since joining from Wolves last summer. A real shock at Old Trafford with just four minutes on the clock with United falling apart.
With 16 minutes played, the hosts began their comeback. Marcus Rashford picked up the ball on the left side following a Matt Turner save and played the ball across the goal to be tapped home by Eriksen from close range. A goal that rewarded United's pressure after going 2-0 behind as they got back into the game.
Forest could of then got a third goal to restore their two goal advantage. Johnson did well to spin away from two players and played a low ball to Gibbs-White who's first time effort was blocked by Forest man Awoniyi. The striker in the wrong place at the wrong time for once as if he wasn't there the ball could of found the back of the net.
It was Forest that went into the break in front but were struggling to build on their lead. The Reds were sitting deep for the majority of the first half trying to protect their lead which meant United saw a lot of the ball and amount pressure on the Forest goal. There was a substitute at the interval by the home side as Victor Lindelof replaced Raphael Varane with the Frenchman struggling to deal with Awoniyi.
Seven minutes into the second half, the home side levelled a game. A free kick routine saw Fernandes drill a ball across to Rashford who looped the ball back to the captain who made a run in behind and he headed across for Casemiro to finish from close range. A well worked routine from United that was helped by poor defending from Forest as the Brazilian midfielder opened his account for the season to level the game.
A save from Matt Turner denied United a quick double. Antony cutting in from the right side and his left footed shot from distance was tipped round the post by the USA international. The keeper making quite the impression since joining from Arsenal in the summer.
Forest were then reduced to ten men as captain Joe Worrall was shown a straight red card. A ball sent over the top sent Fernandes chasing and Worrall pulled him down as he was just getting to the ball and the referee deemed it denial of a clear scoring opportunity. VAR did check the incident but they had no reason to overturn the decision.
Forest's afternoon then got even worse as Danilo gave away a penalty after a foul on Rashford on the left side of the box. Fernandes stood up to the penalty and converted from twelve yards to complete the comeback for the Red Devils. The penalty decision was thought to be a very harsh one by pundits and many fans who saw the incident with contact being very minimal with Danilo also pleading his innocence.
Boly saw a volley saved by Onana late on but other then that Forest struggled to create any clear chances despite pushing for a late equaliser as Manchester United walked away with the three points. A brilliant comeback by Ten Hag's men with this victory easing those that had questioned United's start to the season. It is a tough test up next for United as they travel to the Emirates to face a good Arsenal side who will want to be fighting for top spot again. Despite the scoreline capitulation, it was another encouraging away performance by Cooper's side after causing another top side some problems. The Reds next game is in the Carabao Cup as they host fellow Premier League side Burnley as they will be looking for another cup run after last seasons semi final heartache.
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