Manchester United fell to a disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest tonight, as reality hit Ruben Amorim hard.
The loss was his first at Old Trafford as United boss, and his second in a row after United’s trip to Arsenal ended 2-0 to the hosts.
Nikola Milenkovic put Forest ahead within two minutes, but Rasmus Hojlund evened the score with an excellent poacher’s goal.
After the restart, United descended into farce and shipped two dismal goals before Bruno Fernandes smashed one home to bring the Red Devils back into the game.
While it largely halted Forest’s dominance, it wasn’t enough to inspire a full comeback and the game ended with a whimper, United huffing and puffing but displaying nowhere near the quality needed to secure a point.
Here are four things we learned from the match.
The circus is back in town
Manchester United fans are all too used to witnessing pantomimes instead of blockbusters at the Theatre of Dreams, and parts of tonight’s defeat to Nottingham Forest fit neatly into the former category.
The opening minutes of the second half felt like a fever dream, as Onana seemed to dodge out of the way of Morgan Gibbs-White’s long-range effort to put the visitors back in front as the Cameroonian regressed into last season’s torrid form.
But things got worse – and weirder – when Chris Wood’s looping header was politely watched over the line by the goalkeeper and Martinez in a disastrous communication breakdown.
Appropriately enough, Onana was at the centre of attention in the dying moments of what rapidly became a fiasco for United when he wasted desperately-needed seconds trying to steal an extra yard with a free-kick; after being repeatedly sent back by the referee, the long punt upfield went nowhere.
There have of course been mistakes and bad luck in the last few weeks, but this was Ruben Amorim’s first taste of just how bizarre things can get at Old Trafford, and was a crushing return to reality for the Red Army.
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