Key events
The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Manchester United 1-0 Nottingham Forest
Luke Shaw’s goal is the difference.
45 min: One minute added.
44 min: After a well-timed run, Wood threatens to break free on goal, but a heavy touch allows Martinez to step in and make a tackle.
42 min: After Fernandes botches a short-corner routine, Dalot hooks in a cross to the back post where Diallo – 5ft8in of him – nods over.
40 min: “Of the players on the field, I wouldn’t be surprised if Amad Diallo will have the best World Cup,” emails Kári Tulinius. “Ivory Coast don’t have a terribly difficult group, and they have the squad to go deep into the knockouts. Amad was the Elephants’ finest attacker at the latest Afcon, so he should have plenty of opportunities to shine. Also, it’s odd to say this about a starter for Manchester United, but I think he’s underrated.”
38 min: From a United corner, the ball falls kindly to Martinez, who volleys fiercely at goal … blocked by Anderson. There are faint appeals for handball but the referee correctly waves play on again.
“VAR have just given it as a penalty to Celtic,” quips Bill Gibson.
36 min: I wonder how much Fernandes’ assist record is playing on his mind? Every time the United playmaker gets around the Forest box, one expects him to pass so it’s always a surprise when he shoots. Fernandes’ shot on this occasion is blocked.
34 min: Twice Forest are denied a free-kick in quick succession, as Anderson and Gibbs-White tumble to the turf within 30 seconds of each other. Neither challenge is given as a foul, much to the pair’s displeasure. Anderson is deemed to have slipped, Gibbs-White maybe just fell over.
32 min: From the resulting free-kick, Anderson whips a cross to the near post. Dominguez, not the tallest Forest player out there, darts in and heads over! The Argentinian should have done better!
31 min: Gibbs-White looks full of it today, albeit with a mask on his face to protect that scar. The Forest No 10 is strutting around like he has a point to prove and wins a free-kick on United’s byline after tenacious work to win the ball from Dalot.
29 min: Lammens gets a little lucky: his lazy pass to Mainoo is short and Anderson nips in to try and steal it from the United midfielder. It’s a foul, but that was very nearly a Forest turnover on the edge of United’s box.
26 min: “A World Cup squad is soon to be announced so Luke Shaw suddenly remains fit and on form,” emails Kevin Wilson.
Yep, Shaw does seem to time it well. Of the English players in the two starting XI today, here is what I would expect in regards to going to the World Cup.
Maguire: yes, although perhaps not as a starter.
Shaw: no: O’Reilly and Hall seem to the favourites for left-back.
Mainoo: no, but could potentially sneak in as a back up to Rice and Anderson.
Hutchinson: nowhere near it.
Anderson: yep, obviously.
Gibbs-White: I think you have to take him over Foden, at present.
23 min: Mbeumo has been a fine signing for United this season, but is without a goal in his past 11 matches. He should have scored there, and did the hard part by timing his run and rounding Sels.
Mbeumo hits the post!
21 min: Immediately from that chance, United counter-attack with Cunha racing up the middle. He has options left and right but instead slips in Mbeumo down the middle, who takes a touch or two, rounds Sels and strikes a shot against the bottom of the near post! The ball rebounds out to Fernandes, who attempts a cross, before Mainoo arrives to skew a further chance just wide!
Morgan Gibbs-White clean through, saved by Lammens!
20 min: On a Forest break, Hutchinson aims for Wood with a pass but the striker lets it go, and Gibbs-White runs onto the ball, striding towards Lammens unopposed! The Belgian spreads himself expertly though and Gibbs-White’s low shot hits a stray leg and away! Big chance for Forest.
18 min: Much better from Forest, who are not controlling the ball.
16 min: Diallo beats Morata out wide and drives to the byline. The United winger has three teammates to aim for in the middle but drags a cross waywardly and Igor Jesus is able to help clear.
14 min: Casemiro picks the ball up in some space outside the Forest area. “Shoooooooooot”, bellow the home crowd. The Brazilian instead squares it. In the end, Fernandes tries a pop shot but Sels gathers easily.
12 min: Forest are now enjoying some possession, probing rather than creating anything incisive. Gibbs-White is technically playing left-wing today but is in something of a free-role and is floating inside. Dalot doesn’t know whether to follow him, or pass him on.
10 min: In fairness to Forest, they probably weren’t expecting Shaw to shoot. His last goal was over three years ago, in Manchester United’s win over Bournemouth in January 2023.
8 min: Such a poor goal for Forest to concede. Yes the defensive header from Williams could have been a lot better but the visitors also lacked any sort of urgency or intensity to get out to Shaw, who was able to take a touch and shoot.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Shaw 6)
A poor defensive header from Williams lands at the feet of Shaw inside Forest’s area. Shaw takes a brilliant first touch to bring the ball out of the sky and then with his second touch, laces a beauty of a shot into the far corner, off the post and in!
4 min: Forest are sitting deep and happy to play long to Igor Jesus and Wood, who have a significant height advantage over Lisandro Martinez. But United have settled into a pattern of possession.
2 min: Scrappy start as the teams feel each other out. It’s not often that Manchester United will have faced a 4-4-2, with Chris Wood and Igor Jesus two bruisers up top for Forest.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeep!
And we’re underway at Old Trafford!
Casemiro’s tifo is more of a large banner, really. The Brazilian’s face is pictured next to the slogan: ‘Até à Morte’ (Until death).
Here come the teams! The Manchester United players, the ones that are fathers anyway, are coming out with their children, which is a nice touch. Adam Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo appear to have borrowed some of their teammates’ offspring. Bruno Fernandes’ daughter is unmistakably a Fernandes.
Vítor Pereira has just given one of the most forgettable pre-match interviews of all time, except possibly for this sentence. Neil Warnock’s legacy lives on.
It’s time to enjoy, but enjoy competing for the three points.
Will Unwin’s thoughts on what is sure to be a busy transfer window for Manchester United.
A big boost for Forest that Morgan Gibbs-White is back in the starting XI. The midfielder sustained a gruesome facial injury in the 3-1 win over Chelsea, which led him to missing Forest’s crucial Europa League semi-final second-leg defeat at Villa. His appearance today should allay any fears about him not being fit/healed for the World Cup. Based on form, Thomas Tuchel simply has to take him as a back-up to the tournament. Ollie Watkins is the only Englishman to score more than Gibbs-White’s 13 Premier League goals this season. That’s quite something for a midfielder at a club near the bottom of the table.
Manchester United’s men will wear next season’s home kit against Forest. The strip was debuted by the women’s team in their WSL game at Chelsea on Saturday. I would describe it as underwhelming.
Team news!
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo.
Subs: Bayindir, Dorgu, Heaven, Malacia, Mazraoui, Yoro, Mount, Ugarte, Zirkzee.
No great surprises here. Bryan Mbeumo replaces Joshua Zirkzee, while Diogo Dalot is back in at right-back in place of Noussair Mazraoui.
Nottingham Forest (4-4-2): Sels; Williams, Morato, Milenkovic, Netz; Hutchinson, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White; Wood, Igor Jesus.
Subs: Victor, Ortega, Sangaré, Awoniyi, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Bakwa, Abbott.
It looks like Forest are lined up in the 4-4-2 formation that served them so well in the 5-0 win at Sunderland. A narrow and compact midfield, with Gibbs-White given something of a free role from the left-hand side. Two traditional strikers that will press high and hope to force United’s defence into errors.
Will Unwin, our reporter at Old Trafford today, checks in with some pre-match thoughts. He thinks that any announcement over Carrick today would be “highly unlikely”.
For many it is a redundant game at the end of a very long season for Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. There have been many twists, turns and managerial changes but both have achieved their goals; United and back in the Champions League and Forest have survived in the Premier League.
Michael Carrick will be announced as the permanent Manchester United head coach in the coming days but it is highly unlikely to be today at this stage. He has done a fine job and gave United little option other than keeping him on.
The real interest today comes in the form of Elliot Anderson who is high on United’s midfield shortlist but their £80m valuation of the England international may cause them to miss out to rivals Manchester City, who also want him. A big performance today, on Casemiro’s farewell, could make the United hierarchy reconsider the figures because they need to improve the squad going into Europe next summer.
A reminder of the Premier League table before kick-off:
Preamble
Michael Carrick and Vítor Pereira have both done quite the job. The former, despite only getting the interim gig at Manchester United in January, has even ended up on the Premier League Manager of the Year shortlist (alongside Keith Andrews, Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola, Andoni Iraola and Régis Le Bris) after 10 wins from 15 games, just two defeats and more points than any other side in the division since his appointment. Carrick is expected to be imminently offered a two-year permanent contract at Old Trafford, with an option of a further 12 months. We may well see that announced today in person at the stadium, given this is Manchester United’s final home game of the season. As is customary, the club’s manager will address the crowd after full-time. Maybe the good days really are coming under Carrick.
Today will have a celebratory end-of-season feel that has been missing at Old Trafford for a while now: Champions League football next season is assured, third place can be mathematically sealed against Forest and there will be tributes to Casemiro both before and after the game. A tifo to the Brazilian in the Stretford End is expected to be unfurled as the players walk out for kick-off, while Casemiro will also give a post-match speech.
Credit must also go to Pereira at Forest, another Portuguese speaker who has been something of a slow burn. When he was appointed in February, Forest were 17th in the Premier League, three points above the drop zone, after two wins in their last 10 games. After a win at Fenerbahce in his opening match, the 57-year-old then lost four of his next five matches, with the pressure very much still on.
But a run of five straight wins in all competitions earned both Premier League survival and a European semi-final. Pereira can be proud of what he has achieved It is very much mission accomplished, and Carrick is not the only manager at Old Trafford today being linked with a new contract.
Kick-off: 12.30pm BST.
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