JAKARTA - Manchester United alias MU keok at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League continued, Sunday, December 31 in the morning WIB, with a narrow score of 1-2.
Erik ten Hag and his troops proved that their comeback against Aston Villa four days earlier was just a coincidence and not a turning point to face the next victories.
MU showed signs of life by rising from 2-0 behind to then being able to beat Villa 3-2. However, Bruno Fernandes et al returned to their worst condition at the Forest home, City Ground, early Sunday.
The first half was boring. Forest put more pressure on Onana's goal. While the MU players barely had the chance to threaten the home goal that Matt Turner was guarding.
In the second half, Diogo Dalot almost put MU ahead. His shot from outside the penalty box only hit the Turner post.
That night's game came to life when Forest's attacking midfielder Nicolas Dominguez scored into Andre Onana's lower right corner.
The goal in the 64th minute was so easy. The attack from the left side of the MU defense flowed without a hitch from the Manchester United defender.
Initially, right-back Nottingham Forest, Gonzalo Montiel, relievedly received a ball from former Manchester United player, Anthony Elanga on the left side of the MU defense. Montiel entered the MU penalty box without pressing. He also passed the ball into the middle of the penalty box which Dominguez easily received.
Scott McTominay, who had just entered the second half to replace Kobbie Mainoo, was late in escorting Dominguez so that the Argentine player was free to open fire. Dominguez's shot passes Raphael Varane and Aaron Wan-Bissaka which are indeed far away. Onana only forward. 1-0 for the hosts.
This goal made the match even more interesting because MU insisted on pressing the opponent, until the Forest goalkeeper, Alex Turner, made two blunders. First, when he blocked the ball was not perfect in the 76th minute. Turner's kick ball instead of staying away from the goal but soaring in the penalty box. Even though the opponent's striker, Marcus Rashford, was waiting.
Luckily, Rashford failed to control the ball that bounced in front of him. Turner also easily caught the bouncing ball.
Turner did not have the same luck in the second minute of error. Turner's reckless pass was broken by Alejandro Garnacho near the penalty box.
This Argentine winger passes the ball to Rashford who is standing free on the right side of the Forest defense. With one touch, this Manchester United striker managed to score his third goal in the Premier League this season.
With the same position 1-1, MU continued to put pressure on the defense of Nuno Espirito Santo's team. It looks like MU's comeback against Aston Villa will repeat itself in the 80th minute when Eriksen almost broke into Turner's goal with a hard kick coming from outside the penalty box.
This time Turner became a savior. He was able to block the ball and it was from this momentum that Forest's counter-attack resulted in a winning goal.
Again, Forest troops carried out attacks from the left side of the MU defense. Elanga, a Manchester United academy dropout who joined Forest in July 2023, freely ran closer to the MU penalty box. Similar to Forest's first goal, Elanga fished the ball into the middle.
The uncontrolled Morgan Gibbs-White received a pass and freely fired a stunning curling shot in the 82nd minute past veteran defender Jonny Evans. The 2-1 position lasted until the final whistle despite an additional 10 minutes.
Man United have lost nine times to 20 league games and have never won in their last four away games.
This defeat shows the inconsistency of Ten Hag's team. Man United have been knocked out of the Champions League and League Cup and are struggling to secure the last four of the Premier League standings.
They are now nine points adrift of Arsenal's fourth-placed team, and have played one game more.
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Meanwhile, Forest quickly found its best form under the new manager, Nuno Esp sacrito Santo. They won consecutive victories against Newcastle and Man United during the Christmas holidays.
Forest is ranked 15th and five points above the relegation zone and MU is in 7th place. Erik ten Hag and his team must prepare to drop two levels if Brighton win against West Ham and Newcastle lead Liverpool.
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