Man Utd book Wembley final date with Magpies

Manchester United booked a date with Newcastle United at Wembley after a 5-0 aggregate win over Nottingham Forest.

Action: With a three-goal advantage after the first leg, it was going to take something remarkable from Steve Cooper’s side to get their way back into this tie. Things didn’t start off well for Forest with Jesse Lingard picking up an injury in the build-up and being replaced by Emmanuel Dennis. 

United had plenty of the ball in the first half and had the first real chance of the game when Casemiro got his head to Luke Shaw’s free-kick but Wayne Hennessey did well to save with his feet. 

Brennan Johnson was Forest’s brightest spark all game and he had a great opportunity to put the visitors ahead. The winger skipped through the United defence and into the box but his shot was straight at Tom Heaton.

Dennis would have put his side 1-0 up if it wasn’t for the unintended intervention of Sam Surridge accidentally getting in the way of a shot that looked destined for goal.

Wout Weghorst came the closest for United in the first half when his headed effort from Casemiro’s header beat Hennessey but not the post.

Weghorst will have been surprised when he didn’t earn United a penalty early into the second half. The Dutch striker pinched the ball off Scott McKenna who was attempting to play it out which led to the Forest defender kicking Weghorst instead. The Scottish defender looked sheepish in the aftermath but somehow VAR didn’t intervene to award what looked like a clear penalty.

With just over an hour gone Old Trafford was able to welcome back Jadon Sancho after a long period on the sidelines.

It was another substitute who opened the scoring though. United broke from the halfway line with Anthony Martial putting in a poor pass for Rashford, who just about managed to get an effort away. That shot was blocked but it sat up nicely for Martial to put the ball away.

Just two minutes later and United had another. This time a neat outside-of-the-boot cross from Bruno Fernandes found Rashford at the far post who managed to get the ball across goal for Fred to bundle it into an empty net. 

Big picture: Manchester United set up an intriguing Carabao Cup final with Newcastle United later this month. The Red Devils are desperate for silverware after a five-year drought but will have to deal with a team who look set to disrupt the traditional ‘top six’ from here on out.

Going to Old Trafford is difficult enough at the best at times, but even more so when you’re already 3-0 down. Regardless, Forest put in a good account of themselves but just didn’t have the quality to trouble United.

Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes was behind a lot of Manchester United’s good work with another tireless playmaking performance. His cross that led to Fred's goal was a highlight. 

Bring on Wembley.
Bring on the #CarabaoCup final.

BRING ON UNITED! 🔴⚪️⚫️#MUFC pic.twitter.com/rHiHy8lrSL

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 1, 2023