Nikola Milenkovic stunned United with an early goal just two minutes into Saturday’s match, exposing their vulnerability to set pieces once again. ..Continue Reading
The second half was chaotic with more mistakes, leading to Forest scoring twice and securing a 3-2 victory.
Ruben Amorim’s team had also lost to Arsenal on Wednesday, with both of the Gunners’ goals coming from corners, scored by Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
Returning from suspension, Martinez was assigned to mark Milenkovic but was overpowered as the Serbian easily headed the ball into the net.
Assessing the incident at half-time, Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports: ‘He has to be stronger there. He’s like a little boy there. He just gets bullied. It’s a mismatch, he is trying to block him and its a towering header.’
Former Man United defender Phil Jones, with Redknapp on punditry duty, was also unimpressed with Martinez’s decision-making, also identifying Diogo Dalot as another at fault for the opener.
‘It is a great header, a bullet of a header. But you sense vulnerability from set pieces,’ Jones said.
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‘Martinez is almost too fixated on the man. He’s got the blocking job, he’s too square and is watching the man rather than the ball. Diogo Dalot takes a couple of steps towards the ball and gets caught underneath it. He almost gets sucked underneath the ball.’
United’s defensive weaknesses were laid bare again in the second half when Andre Onana allowed Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot to slip through him shortly after the break.
Chris Wood scored another for the visitors in the 54th minute with a peculiar goal. His header looped over Onana and found the back of the net, despite Onana being well-positioned at the back post.
Bruno Fernandes managed to score for United, reducing the deficit, but they were unable to find an equalizer.
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