Chance gone as attention turns to scrap for survival
NUNO Espirito Santo pointed to “fine margins and details” after Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United.
Conceding in the 89th minute to bow out of the competition at the fifth round stage was a “cruel” way to lose, he said. But Nuno is convinced the Reds are heading in the right direction; that better results will soon come.
Wednesday night did provide some positives in that respect. Forest did not get the win they wanted to carry them into what is a big month ahead – on and off the pitch – but they did produce a better performance than against Aston Villa at the weekend. They did show a response.
Now all focus is on the battle for survival. Two of the Reds’ three wins of 2024 have been in the Cup, with their replay successes over Blackpool and Bristol City in the previous rounds.
They know they need to improve that tally in the league.
■■Attacking threat
Forest created plenty of chances against United. They were left to rue not making the most of them.
With better finishing they could have booked a place in the quarterfinals.
Divock Origi and Taiwo Awoniyi will no doubt feel they ought to have done better with the opportunities they had. Neco Williams went close with a rasping strike in the second half which was narrowly off-target. Murillo tried one of his long-distance efforts but couldn’t quite get enough power behind it. In all, the hosts had 16 efforts at goal, five of which were on target.
They could not get the reward for some nice play. In the first half, particularly, Nuno’s men played some good football.
Origi deserved his place in the starting 11 after his substitute display at Villa Park, and he picked up from where he left off in the West Midlands.
Although he ran out of steam a little after the break – along with several of his teammates – he had been bright and had made some lovely driving runs.
Forest have been waiting for the AC Milan loanee to show what he is capable of. If he can keep those performance levels up, he can have a role to play in the run-in. And that can be particularly important as Awoniyi continues to get back up to speed, with the Nigerian clearly still lacking sharpness in front of goal.
■■Nuno’s substitutions
There was no question Nuno had gone for it with his starting 11. Right from the third round, the Portuguese has made clear he takes the FA Cup seriously – and his team selections have demonstrated that.
Even in a three-game week and with a crunch clash against Liverpool to come tomorrow, the Forest boss named a very strong side.
However, midway through the second half, the Reds lost their way against United. Having been giving their opponents a good game, they faded with 25 minutes or so to go.
There was surely a case for making changes at that point as the visitors were getting on top. Fresh legs and someone to get on the ball in midfield, perhaps. Nuno had options on the bench but waited until the 79th minute to replace Origi with Callum Hudson-odoi.
As full-time nears, it then becomes trickier for any manager to judge when is the right time to make a switch. With the score still 0-0, extra time was looming. That may well have played a part in Nuno holding back.
If so, the gamble didn’t pay off. By the time Gio Reyna and Rodrigo Ribeiro came on, after Casemiro’s goal, it was too late. The match was into added time, it would have taken something special from them to make an impact at that point.
Nuno has got his substitutions spot on plenty of times. On this occasion, though, earlier changes might have helped make a difference.
■■The winner...
Just as the hosts did, United had several chances in the match. Matt Turner needed to make a couple of important saves in the first half to keep the visitors at bay.
Nuno had said beforehand he had
a decision to make over who would start between the posts. He had to weigh up whether to plump for continuity in Matz Sels or stick with using Turner in the Cup.
The American got the nod and generally he had a pretty good game.
“He was stable and helped us. He made some good saves. He did a good job,” said Nuno.
The winner was a frustrating one to give away, though. Forest are working on their set-piece issues but they are still causing some frustration – at both ends of the pitch.
Anthony Elanga conceded what proved to be a costly free kick and Casemiro got in front of Danilo to head past Turner. However, there was a question mark over whether the goal should have stood.
Raphael Varane was in an offside position and the Reds argued he was blocking Felipe but a lengthy VAR check deemed him not to be interfering in play. Morgan Gibbs-white appeared to make his feelings clear afterwards with an Instagram image comparing it to Virgil van Dijk’s goal for Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final, which was ruled out due to a player standing in an offside position.
Inconsistency in refereeing and VAR decisions continues to frustrate.
Mark Clattenburg, newly employed by the Reds in the role of match and performance analyst, was watching on from the stands. He was seated next to referees’ chief Howard Webb. No doubt an interesting conversation ensued...
■■On to the League...
And so to the scrap for survival. Full focus is now on the Premier League.
Forest have some big tests ahead, not least against Liverpool at the City Ground tomorrow.
They should take encouragement from their performance against United, even if it was something of a missed opportunity. Erik ten Hag’s team were there for the taking.
“The improvement is clear and as a team we are playing good,” said Nuno. “But the results are not coming, so we have to work harder, play better, be more clinical, improve on details, set-pieces, all these things we are aware of. We are clear on what we have to do.”
Harry Toffolo posted on social media: “We stay together and fight on Saturday, back in the Premier League.
“Never felt such a connection between you incredible fans and players.
“We feel it – please keep bringing it. We stick together as one.”