Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim defended his decision to sack captain Bruno Fernandes as the home side suffered a 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood scored as Forest inflicted a second successive defeat to Amorim's side in the Premier League.
Fernandes was one of the better players for United on the pitch and scored their second goal in the 61st minute, making for an exciting end to the match.
But the Portugal international was substituted in the 75th minute, with Mason Mount replacing him as United failed to break the Forest defence.
“Bruno was too tired and I wanted Mount to play in that position of second midfielder, who opens up on the left,” Amorim told Sky Sports after the match.
“Joshua [Zirkzee] plays with Rasmus [Hojlund] have combinations, [Leny] Yoro is leaving because we can't give him too many minutes.
A narrow defeat at Old Trafford.#MUFC || #MUNNFO
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 7, 2024
“We brought in Harry Maguire from set pieces, to have more control over who would win all the first balls. The only way to attack Nottingham was through transitions, to try to win the first and second balls. When Harry was on the pitch , he won all the first balls.”
Fernandes was also denied by the woodwork from a first-half free-kick as United dropped to 13th in the table. They were also defeated 2-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
“It's not a surprise because we're in the middle of a lot of games,” Amorim said.
“It's really disappointing for the fans, after so many disappointments, but we are here to do our job and will continue to do the same things to improve the team.”
Meanwhile, their opponents moved up to fifth place with another impressive win and are now just two points behind champions Manchester City above them.
Mood. pic.twitter.com/aIabBFMoZk
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 7, 2024
Nuno Espirito Santo's side have won seven games and drawn and lost four, collecting 25 points from 15 games.
Forest scored within two minutes of either half at Old Trafford to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in midweek.
“The players' faith, believing in every action, is important [to scoring early goals]. The start of the second half was also very good for us. The calm was good. The team is growing and improving. We still have things to address, but it's fun,” Nuno told BBC Sport.
“It's very important to always bounce back after a bad result. We didn't have a bad performance against City. Fresh legs made the difference during the match.”
While United face City in their next Premier League outing, Forest welcome Aston Villa in their next outing.
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