Consecutive defeats for Amorim as Forest record a memorable victory

Ruben Amorim suffered his second successive defeat as Manchester United manager, and his first at Old Trafford, as Nottingham Forest won 3-2 in a thriller at Old Trafford.

Amorim’s side conceded early in both halves to compound their midweek defeat at Arsenal as Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood scored for the visitors to claim United’s first home win in three decades.

Rasmus Hoylund and Bruno Fernandes found the net for the hosts on a day when the Red Devils paid tribute to their long-time and much-loved receptionist Kat Phipps, who died this week aged 85.

For Forest, it was their second trip to Manchester in four days following their 3-0 defeat by Manchester City on Wednesday. But this time, the visitor’s journey to the city was much happier.

WINNING AT OLD TRAFFORD. 😍 pic.twitter.com/VjPy0NPIRC

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 7, 2024

United were twice beaten by corners against the Gunners and they were again punished from a set-piece when the towering Milenkovic rose highest to head home a corner inside 90 seconds.

It was the first goal of the Serbian representative in Forest and the worst possible start for Amorim’s team.

The visitors have shown on several occasions this term that they can hold on to the lead so, moments later, it was no surprise to see a wall of light blue shirts diving to block Amad Diallo’s low strike from a set-piece routine.

But Forrest were not in front for long when, on 18 minutes, Alejandro Garnacho’s effort was pushed into the path of Hoylund by goalkeeper Mats Sels.

The Danish forward was on hand to slot the ball into the net to level the scores.

From there, it was something of a momentum tug of war between the two teams.

Jota Silva, dubbed the ‘Portuguese Jack Grealish’ due, in part, to his physical resemblance to the Manchester City man, hit the bar with a header just before the half-hour mark.

United then returned the favor when Fernandes’ free-kick was brought down on the woodwork by Sels five minutes before half-time.

“He got Andre Onana all wrong” 😬

Morgan Gibbs-White puts Nottingham Forest back in front 🌳 pic.twitter.com/BNt6RtetxC

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 7, 2024

But immediately after the break, Forest repeated their first-half antics when Gibbs-White fired past Andre Onana after Fernandes had given the ball away cheaply to Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The winger played the ball to the Forest number 10 who launched a fierce drive which the United stopper failed to stop.

The in-form Wood, who is celebrating his 33rd birthday, soon increased Forest’s lead when he headed Gibbs-White’s deep cross across goal.

The ball eluded everyone before dropping into the far side of the net to give Wood his 10th league goal of the season and see him become Forest’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League era.