Manchester United took a further step towards ending their six-year trophy drought after a commanding, first-leg, Carabao Cup triumph away to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday evening, with Erik ten Hag’s side running out 3-0 winners to take firm control of the tie.
23 years on from claiming a ruthless, 8-1 victory on their last visit to the City Ground back in February 1999, the Red Devils were again able to enjoy a rather comfortable night in Nottingham, with a place at Wembley next month now all but secured.
The evening had got off to the best possible start for the visitors as emerging talisman Marcus Rashford maintained his rampant hot streak in front of goal after producing a devastating finish on the break, with that taking the Englishman’s tally to 18 goals in all competitions this season.
That lead was then extended just before the break as recent arrival Wout Weghorst notched his first goal for the club with a well-taken finish on the rebound, with that coming after the hosts had seen a Sam Surridge strike chalked off for offside.
With United largely keeping Steve Cooper’s side at bay – albeit while at times struggling to handle the pace of the lively Brennan Johnson – the victory was then secured at the death as Bruno Fernandes expertly lashed home after a clever dinked pass from substitute Anthony Elanga.
For all of that ruthlessness in attack, it was centre-back Lisandro Martinez who was “rightly man of the match” on the night, as per Manchester Evening News’ Samuel Luckhurst, with the relentless Argentine winning eight of his 11 duels, while also offering a typically composed presence in possession after enjoying a 92% pass accuracy rate.
The 25-year-old was not the only figure to have impressed yesterday evening, however, with fellow summer signing and former Ajax teammate, Antony, having been a “big plus” for Ten Hag, in the words of Luckhurst.
The £86m addition has endured a difficult start to life in English football – with just five goals and no assists to his name heading into the meeting with the Garibaldi – although the 22-year-old showed flashes of his undoubted quality last night, having notably provided an impressive haul of three key passes from his 55 touches.
The fleet-footed Brazilian was involved in a stunning, flowing first-half move involving Fernandes and Weghorst, although saw his effort expertly denied by the onrushing Wayne Hennessey.
That was followed by a vital involvement in United’s second goal of the night, with it having been Antony’s initial, curling strike that was parried to the feet of Weghorst, who subsequently fired into the roof of the net.
Although the Sao Paulo native was unable to bolster his tally of goal contributions for the season, his first-half showing, in particular, illustrated that it is far too soon to write the 5 foot 9 wizard off just yet, with this regular run of games only set to help in the period of adaptation.
That encouraging outing could well be a sign that Antony is beginning to repay the continued faith of his manager, with the hope being that it can truly kickstart his time in Manchester.
As journalist Josh Bunting stated, “that’s the way he needs to play from now on”…
