Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/TRETFORD: Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial scored in Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest for Manchester United, who are off to a winning start without Cristiano Ronaldo.
After a fiery interview in which he attacked Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag and the club’s owners, Ronaldo’s tumultuous second stint at Old Trafford came to an end during the World Cup break. Since Ten Hag assumed leadership at the beginning of the season, Ronaldo’s influence on the field had already diminished.
Rashford has improved as a player under the Dutch coach and has carried over his excellent World Cup performance for England into the Premier League’s resumption.
Manchester United
Manchester United scored a flurry of goals after a masterfully executed corner allowed Christian Eriksen to find an unmarked Rashford inside the box and sweep the ball into the top corner. Dean Henderson, the starting goalkeeper for Forest who is on loan from United, was absent, and Wayne Hennessey, his backup, was at fault when the home team doubled their lead three minutes later.
Martial was set up at the edge of the box by Rashford’s left-side burst, but the Frenchman’s shot shouldn’t have had enough force to beat the Welsh goalkeeper. With Diogo Dalot hurt, Harry Maguire still experiencing the effects of an illness, and Lisandro Martinez absents due to Argentina’s World Cup celebrations, United was also lacking in defence.
As a result, Luke Shaw made his first appearance as a center-back in a back four, and Raphael Varane was compelled to start just nine days after playing 113 minutes for France in the World Cup final.
However, Forest did not put a shoddy defence to the test, as they have scored just one league goal away from home all season.
Shortly before halftime, Steve Cooper’s team did manage to put the ball in the back of the net, but Willy Boly’s attempt was disallowed for offside following a protracted VAR review. Given Ronaldo’s departure and the fact that United should have scored more goals in the second half, Ten Hag has publicly expressed his desire to bring in a striker during the January transfer window.
After excellent play from Rashford and Bruno Fernandes gave the Brazilian a clear shot at goal, Antony fired straight at Hennessey.
Hennessey also resisted and successfully stopped close-range shots from Martial and Rashford, but three minutes before the end, the Red Devils finally scored the third goal they deserved.
When Casemiro gained control of the ball, he advanced and chose Fred, another Brazilian, to score into the far corner. With a game left to play, Manchester United has a chance to pass fourth-place Tottenham and move within one point of the top four. Forests are still firmly entrenched in the relegation zone but are only one point away from safety.
