Defeat to Man Utd dents final hopes
On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 2023 Forest lose 3–0 to Manchester United in a League Cup semi-final first leg at the City Ground.
Forest’s first League Cup semi-final since 1992 began with a heavy 3-0 first-leg defeat to Manchester United at the City Ground.
The occasion carried excitement, with Forest back in a major domestic semi-final after years away from that stage. But United damaged the mood early when Marcus Rashford drove down the left, carried the ball into the box and finished low past Wayne Hennessey.
Forest did have a moment when the ground thought the tie had swung back towards them. Sam Surridge ran through and finished neatly, only for VAR to rule the goal out for offside. Instead of being level, Forest were still chasing the game.
United punished that before half-time. Wout Weghorst reacted quickest to a rebound and scored his first goal for the club, making it 2-0. Bruno Fernandes then added a late third, leaving Forest with a deficit that felt too large for the second leg.
United won 2-0 at Old Trafford and went through 5-0 on aggregate. Forest’s cup run ended at the semi-final stage, but reaching that point still marked one of the club’s biggest knockout nights of the early Premier League return.
Sources
ESPN; Sky Sports; The Guardian
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