Marcus Rashford continued his glowing season as he netted but once more to make sure Manchester United’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest within the opening leg of their League Cup semifinal on Wednesday.
England ahead Rashford’s very good solo effort after six minutes, dancing previous defenders earlier than firing residence, took him to 18 targets in all competitions this season. Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has extra for a Premier League membership in 2022-23.
Forest thought they’d shortly restored parity on the City Ground after catching United out on the counter however Sam Surridge’s effort was dominated out for offside following a VAR assessment.
United capitalized on that reprieve by doubling their lead simply earlier than halftime, on-loan striker Wout Weghorst netting his first aim since becoming a member of the membership after Antony’s shot had been properly saved.
The second aim killed off Forest’s hopes of a comeback and Bruno Fernandes added a late third to maintain United properly on track to win their first trophy since 2017.
“I’m happy with the performance, over 90 minutes we controlled the game,” United coach Erik ten Hag mentioned. “There was one second that might have modified the sport and now we have to pay attention to that and enhance.
“In this mood and with this spirit, he (Rashford) is unstoppable. He can be creative in the final third, to do something in the final third, some crazy stuff, fantasy and adventure.”
United got here into the competition having suffered their first defeat since November in all competitions at Arsenal on Sunday and had additionally misplaced their final three cup semifinals.
Perfect platform
Rashford gave them the proper platform to enhance that document, however Forest responded properly, considering they’d instantly leveled, just for VAR to intervene, earlier than the hosts created and wasted extra possibilities.
The guests produced a advantageous transfer to play Antony in on the half-hour mark, however Forest goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey denied the Brazilian, standing in for on-loan Dean Henderson who can’t play in opposition to his dad or mum membership United.
The subsequent shot Antony had resulted within the second aim as his highly effective effort was crushed away by Hennessey, however Weghorst, on his third look, was available to open his United account.
United supporters within the away finish have been singing “Wembley” at halftime and their goals of returning to the well-known outdated stadium for February’s closing continued after the break.
At 2-0, Forest weren’t utterly out of the tie, however Fernandes’s drilled end within the 89th minute gave United the joint-biggest first-leg win by an away facet in a League Cup semifinal and it could take a monumental collapse for Forest to show issues round at Old Trafford subsequent week.
“Obviously, it was a disappointing scoreline,” Forest coach Steve Cooper mentioned. “The final thing you need to do is go to Old Trafford with this end result.
“Obviously, Rashford is one of the in-form players in the country, but for us to allow him to do what he did is not good enough.”
Newcastle United gained 1-0 at Southampton within the first leg of the opposite semifinal.
