(Football news) Manchester United took on Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford with a 3-0 lead in the first leg of the semi-final at the City Ground. The Red Devils sealed the win in the second leg with goals from Anthony Martial and Fred with long term absentee Jadon Sancho also returning after being sidelined for more than three months. The result means that Erik ten Hag has the opportunity to win his first silverware in his debut season at the Carabao Cup final, which will be Manchester United’s first trophy in 6 years since their 2017 Europa League win under Jose Mourinho.
Ten Hag named a strong lineup despite having a 3-0 lead in the first leg with Luke Shaw, Casemiro and Raphael Varane still featuring in the starting lineup. As for Forest, they were forced to feature Emmanuel Dennis instead of Jesse Lingard who was injured in the warm-up. Both teams had decent chances just before the break with Dennis being set up by Brennan Johnson but his shot hit his own team-mate Sam Surridge. As for Manchester United, Casemiro gave a beautiful cross to Wout Weghorst whose attempt hit the post.
Ten Hag then introduced veterans Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford at the hour mark and the Frenchman found the back of the net in the 73rd minute, beating Wayne Hennessy from close range. Marcus Rashford continued his red hot form by squaring the ball to Fred after latching onto Bruno Fernandes’ cross and tapping into an empty net. The biggest concern for Ten Hag will remain his lack of squad depth and over reliance on first team players. With games coming thick and fast, fatigue is likely to play a factor as Manchester United are competing in every competition.
“The first half wasn’t great to be honest. It was professional with how we played, but the tempo was too slow, we didn’t create chances and we allowed them to create chances. That shouldn’t happen. I think they played well, defending compactly and we didn’t find the gaps. The second half was a bit better with more tempo and I think we scored some good goals. We just want to improve every day.
“I think we have a good squad and we have to demand high standards. If we aren’t reaching those standards we are not happy. In the first half I wasn’t happy. We are United and when you’re a United player you have to match those standards. Of course we are looking forward to facing Newcastle at Wembley. It will be a great final. But it’s far away from us now. We’ve got the Premier League first, and Crystal Palace on Saturday.” – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag
“Congratulations to Manchester United and Newcastle for getting to the final. Good luck to both of them at Wembley. The damage was done in the first leg if we’re honest. But we had two great chances in the first half. We’ve not played particularly well at away grounds at the ‘big six’, but I thought we did a bit better tonight.
“But the club is on an upward trajectory. Think where we were 12 months ago to where we are now, competing in the Premier League and in semi-finals. We need to take a breath and think ‘we’re doing alright here’. We’ve got to say we’re making forward steps, and we’ve just got to keep working hard.” – Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper
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