Notts Forest 0-1 Man Utd: Tough but through

If you wanted to watch a spectacle then it was not at the City Ground. Casemiro managed to get a nick on the Bruno Fernandes delivery to save us all from having to watch another 30 minutes of the dross. Antony hit the bar, McTominay had two chances with his head. Forest too had chances, ones that weren’t as glaring as ours however. In terms of the general play, it was level with what we saw in our other games, which is not good. It sets up a home tie against Liverpool, which unfortunately Ten Hag and the boys will step into with trepidation.

Uninspiring yet through

Much of the talk in the aftermath of the loss to Fulham centred around how much United are not stopping their opponent progressing the ball into dangerous positions where they inevitably get their shot off. 100 shots in the last 5 games and tonight was no different, having conceded 12 shots in the first half but half of those were blocked and those that were on target were more than comfortable for the goalkeeper.

On the other end, United started well with Antony hitting the bar and McTominay not doing well enough with a header when he is usually good from those positions. However, the quality in general, not just from United, was really poor in the main when it came to creating chances. I spoke about Bruno Fernandes after Saturday and it was a continuation of the form he has shown not just on that day but also throughout the season. The prime example of the worst of him was when the ball came to him and he hooked it blindly without much thought and it went through to the keeper. His play is predicated on the idea of doing things with much thought. It’s instinctive and often case, first time because he is unable to deal with the ball under pressure nor can he dribble out of it.

Funnily enough, where the goal came from is another area where Bruno was haphazard on the night. On the corner that Antony hitting the bar from, it was a good combination to set up the final pass for the Brazilian but when it came to hitting it into the box, the delivery was so often poor. A lot of the times it was very flat and didn’t clear the near post and his other indirect free kicks were the same. Yet the goal that Casemiro glanced in, it was a flat free kick. Where it was by chance or he had actually put thought into making sure it goes into the space that Forest left vacated, it won’t be known. But in a way, it sums up Bruno and exactly where Man Utd are on the football pitch. This team and club is at a point where even with victory they can turn it where you come out thinking that this is not a team capable of doing much.