Manchester United Finishes in Third Place After Defeating Nottingham Forest 3-2
JAKARTA - Manchester United ensured a finish in third place in the final standings of the 2025/26 English League after defeating Nottingham Forest with a score of 3-2 in the 37th week match at Old Trafford Stadium, Sunday.
The victory, which was supported by goals from Luke Shaw, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo, made United now collecting 68 points or ensured that they were not caught by Aston Villa (62) who were in fourth place while the league only had one week of match series left.
Meanwhile, Forest, who responded through Morata, Morgan and Gibbs-White, did not move from 16th place with a collection of 43 points, according to the official website of the English Premier League.
United, as reported by Antara, appeared to be pressing from the start of the match and was able to make the home crowd cheer after opening the lead through Shaw's goal just six minutes after the start.
The MU players expressed their joy after the final whistle, they beat Forest with a score of 3-2. (Instagram @manutd)
Starting from Bruno Fernandes' cross, which was not perfectly cleared by the Forest defense, Shaw managed to tame the stray ball before firing a horizontal shot that was not stopped by goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Forest responded well to the goal and increased the intensity of the attack, unfortunately the golden opportunity obtained by Gibbs-Whitemasih could be broken by goalkeeper SenneLammens.
In the 21st minute, United almost doubled the lead if only Mbe's shot had made Selsterperdayatak hit the crossbar.
The first half ended with a score of 1-0 for United and the visiting team was able to equalize seven minutes after halftime through a header from Moratome, taking advantage of a cross from Elliot Anderson.
However, the draw did not last long, because before the celebration of the away fans, Cunha actually restored United's advantage by taking advantage of a perfect throw-in from the Foresta defense and Mbeumop's shot in the 55th minute.
Referee Michael Salisbury was able to consult with VAR due to an alleged handball in the process of an attack, before he finally pointed to the white dot in the middle of the field as a sign that Cunhadiny stated the goal was legal.
United continued to press and Mbeumo finally added his name to the scoreboard by finishing off a left-footed cross from Fernand in the 75th minute, extending the hosts' 3-1 lead over Forest.
Two minutes later Gibbs-White again cut Forest's lead to 2-3 with a close-range volley ending Anderson's pass.
Unfortunately, Forest failed to continue the positive momentum to find the equalizer, instead United was relieved even though they were unable to add a goal because the match ended with a 3-2 victory and locked the third position in the final standings even though there was still one match left.
Next Sunday (24/5), United will close the season at Brighton & Hove Albion's home while Forest hosts Bournemouth at The City Ground.
Starting XI:
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Dalot; Mainoo, Casemiro; Cunha, Fernandes, Amad; Mbeumo
Nottingham Forest (4-4-2): Sels; Netz, Morato, Milenkovic, Williams; Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Anderson, Hutchinson; Wood, Jesus