Defeating relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday marked a successful weekend in which top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United both made mistakes. Manchester United thus took another step toward securing Champions League qualification.
The Red Devils put aside their growing injury list before the trip to the City Ground, which was only made worse by the loss of Marcel Sabitzer during the warm-up, to deservedly secure the points yesterday. Quick-footed enigma Antony scored and assisted in what was a strong team effort.
Although the Brazilian played a significant role in both of United’s goals on the day, it was his teammate Bruno Fernandes who really stole the show in his role as a playmaker, compiling six crucial passes to demonstrate his relentless, attacking threat.
The 28-year-old was hailed as “pure quality” and a “striker’s dream” by club legend Roy Keane after that classy performance. The former Sporting CP man was also unlucky not to have walked away with a goal for himself, after being repeatedly denied by the sprawling Keylor Navas.
The game had been largely controlled by Erik ten Hag’s team with Fernandes in charge (68% possession), so the visitors also needed a strong defensive performance. Victor Lindelof, who was back from injury, took control of a somewhat improvised back four.
How did Lindelof fare in his matchup with Forest?
With Lisandro Martinez expected to miss the rest of the season and fellow center back Raphael Varane likely to miss the next few weeks as well after being forced off during the midweek draw with Sevilla, concerns may have been growing among United fans prior to the game.
The continued absence of Luke Shaw, who missed the trip to Nottingham, added to the loss of Ten Hag’s starting defensive pairing and further constrained the options available at the center of the backline.
As a result, the former Ajax manager was forced to pay homage to the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era by pairing the aforementioned Lindelof with club captain Harry Maguire, despite the fact that the two had previously played only a minor role in the Premier League this season.
It was the Sweden international who really stepped up, having been simply “imperious” throughout the game, according to writer Dominic Booth, despite the fact that Maguire had a notable shaky start (having received an early booking for wrestling Taiwo Awoniyi to the ground and nearly giving away a penalty for handball).
On just his sixth league start of the year, the former Benfica star made a “unflappable return” to the team, in the words of Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst, winning four of his five total duels as a sign of the 28-year-old’s defensive dominance.
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The composed and composed defender showed a willingness to advance from deep after successfully completing both of his attempted dribbles and had a remarkable 95% pass accuracy rate from his 73 touches.
Given the exceptional quality of his performance, Luckhurst wrote in his post-game player ratings piece for MEN that Lindelof “barely gave the Forest forwards a kick.” The £120k-per-week rock undoubtedly helped to lessen the loss of both Martinez and Varane.
Despite rumors of a summer departure, there are still questions about the 58-cap gem’s long-term future at Old Trafford, but based on his performance on Sunday, he can at least be useful in the near future.
