Man Utd outclass Forest and have one foot in Carabao final

Man Utd responded brilliantly to their 2-1 defeat against Arsenal at the weekend with a confident display against Nottingham Forest. United dominated the opening 15 minutes and needed just six minutes to score when Rashford dribbled past several opponents before firing home. Forest had an equaliser ruled out by VAR for offside and then Weghorst made it two right on half-time after Antony's strike was saved by goalkeeper Hennessey. Forest struggled to create anything major in the second period and Bruno Fernandes added a third late on. 

Erik ten Hag's men are hot favourites to reach Wembley as they seek to end their six-year trophy drought, with either Newcastle or Southampton lying in wait. The second leg will take place at Old Trafford on February 1.

Ten Hag, in his first season at the club, has revitalised United, but will be desperate to win silverware to appease the hungry fans. Brazil midfielder Casemiro was back in the United starting line-up after being suspended for Sunday's 3-2 Premier League defeat at leaders Arsenal, which left United fourth in the table. Forest, with new boy Danilo in the starting line-up, came into the match full of confidence after just one defeat in their past seven Premier League matches had lifted them to 13th in the table. But the visitors took control immediately and opened the scoring in style.

Rashford picked up the ball in his own half and raced down the left, cutting into the box between Joe Worrall and Remo Freuler before beating Wayne Hennessey at his near post with a powerful left-footed shot. That was his 18th goal of the season and the 10th since the World Cup. Brazil winger Antony went close to making it 2-0 minutes later as United threatened to overwhelm the home team.

 

January 25, 2023

Forest, who have won the League Cup four times in their history, thought they had equalised midway through the first half when Sam Surridge produced a fine finish after a rampaging run through the middle by Morgan Gibbs-White. But the goal was ruled out by VAR for a tight offside against Surridge.

Gustavo Scarpa stung David de Gea's hands with an audacious volley as Forest increasingly came into the game, with Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson a threat. But five-time winners United doubled their lead just before half-time, with Dutch forward Weghorst reacting smartly to fire home with the outside of his right foot after Hennessey had denied Antony.

United were largely untroubled in the second half, coming agonisingly close to extending their lead when Christian Eriksen rattled the crossbar from the edge of the box in the 54th minute. The visitors continued to threaten sporadically and rounded off a comfortable night when Fernandes slotted home after a clever pass from substitute Anthony Elanga.

Newcastle, chasing their first domestic trophy since 1955, beat Southampton 1-0 on Tuesday in their first-leg match.