PLAYER RATINGS: Fernandes leads Man United's fightback against Forest

PLAYER RATINGS: Bruno Fernandes was front and centre of Man United’s fightback against Nottingham Forest… but emergency left back Diogo Dalot struggles

  • Man United beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 after fighting back from a slow start
  • Bruno Fernandes was the star for the hosts but full back Diogo Dalot struggled 
  • WATCH: It’s All Coming Up – Mail Sport’s preview show for the weekend’s football

Manchester United fought back from conceding two goals in the opening four minutes to earn a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag’s side rallied after Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly put the visitors into a shock 2-0 lead in the opening minutes.

Christian Eriksen and Casemiro struck to bring Man United level, before Forest skipper Joe Worrall was shown a red card for bringing down Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes, who was at the heart of Man United’s comeback, scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot after Marcus Rashford was tripped by Danilo.

IAN WHITTELL provides the player ratings from Old Trafford as Man United earned their second successive home win at the start of the season.

Bruno Fernandes scored from the spot as Man United fought back to beat Nottingham Forest

Casemiro was also on target as Man United fought back from 2-0 down to secure victory

Man United boss Erik ten Hag has seen his side win their opening home games of the season

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Man United (4-2-3-1)  

Andre Onana 6

Left screaming at his defence after conceding twice in the opening four minutes though little he could do. Good late save but booked for time wasting.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka 5

Could have prevented both of the early Forest goals. Remained shaky defensively but looked a threat in attack.

Raphael Varane 6

Bailed United out of a couple of tricky situations but came off at half-time, presumably due to injury.

Lisandro Martinez 5

Could have cleared the Forest second and was rash in a couple of challenges. His pace helped him in a couple of tricky spots.

Diogo Dalot 4

Emergency left-back cover and looked off the pace, full of unforced errors and pushed off the ball too easily. Fast asleep when a clever Bruno free-kick played him in.

Diogo Dalot was brought into the side as an emergency left back but looked off the pace

Casemiro 7

Headed wide from point blank range with the goal at his mercy but finished when given a second chance early in second half.

Christian Eriksen 7

In for injured Mason Mount and took his chance with a cute finish for his early goal. Constantly tried to find holes in the Forest defence.

Antony 8

One of the few United men to put in a good first-half, showed lot of endeavour and work rate. Almost put his side ahead with a great curling effort.

Bruno Fernandes 9

Was front and centre in United fightback, especially with a superb training ground set piece which he started and then headed across goal for Casemiro. Kept his cool from the spot.

Marcus Rashford 7

Tried gamely to deny Awoniyi the opener, was alert to set up Eriksen for his goal and won pen. Full of running and up for the scrap.

Anthony Martial 5

First start of the season and his neat, quick touch allowed Rashford to set up Eriksen. Could have touched in a deflected Wan-Bissaka cross and missed a good chance early after the break.

Antony, left, was impressive with the winger showing a lot of endeavour and work rate

Man United captain Fernandes was front and centre to his team’s fightback against Forest

Substitutes

Victor Lindelof for Varane 45 mins – 7

Jadon Sancho for Martial 60 mins – 6

Scott McTominay for Antony 84 mins

Substitutes (not used) Henderson, Maguire, Pellistri, Fernandez, Gore, Garnacho.

Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1)

Matt Turner 5

Spilled a difficult shot to hand Eriksen a goal, symptomatic of some dodgy handling throughout. Conditions were wet and treacherous, but no excuse.

Willy Boly 7

A memorable goal although he did not seem to know much about it. Grafted in the face of mounting United pressure.

Joe Worrall 5

Finally cracked under the United pressure when he hauled down Bruno and was shown a straight red. Had led by example until then.

Scott McKenna 5

Found Antony’s mobility and trickery a problem when the winger cut inside and replaced before the hour.

Nottingham Forest captain Joe Worrall had led by example until his second half red card

Serge Aurier 7

Booked after his poor touch played Forest into trouble but covered miles in defence and attack, where he provided Dalot with plenty of headaches.

Danilo 5

Could not readily cope with Eriksen’s passing or Bruno’s trickery and eventually folded when his careless foot tripped Rashford for the decisive penalty.

Ryan Yates 6

Another hard-working performance but not one in which he saw much of the ball as Forest spent the majority of the game on the back foot. Might have scored with a late long ranger though.

Ola Aina 5

Booked for one foul too many as Forest came under increasing pressure in the second half and was forced to forget attacking opportunities.

Brennan Johnson 6

Set up the opener – with a clearance from his own penalty area! Worked hard but spent a lot of the game on defensive duties. Sacrificed after the sending off.

Morgan Gibbs-White was crucial to both of Nottingham Forest’s early goals in the match

Taiwo Awoniyi scored Forest’s opener and provided a headache to the United defence

Morgan Gibbs-White 8

His header set up the first, his free-kick the second and England manager Gareth Southgate was watching. Denied a third for Forest when his shot hit Awoniyi.

Taiwo Awoniyi 7

Showed great athleticism and composure in sprinting half the length of the field to score a stunning opener. A headache for shaky United defence thereafter.

Substitutes

Moussa Niakhate for McKenna 56 mins – 5

Cheikhou Kouyate for Johnson 69 mins – 5

Anthony Elanga for Danilo 81 mins

Chris Wood for Awoniyi 81 mins

Substitutes (not used) Horvath, Williams, Freuler, Montiel, Uj-jo.

Referee: S Attwell 7

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