Antony bags goal, assist as Man United battle past Forest to go third

Updated: Oct 12, 2023, 03:19 pm

Manchester United's Antony scored and set up a Diogo Dalot goal to lead their injury-hit side to a 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest on Sunday as Erik ten Hag's side climbed to third place in their quest for a berth in next season's Champions League.

United have 59 points from 30 games, three points in front of fourth-placed Newcastle United and six ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, who have played 31 matches.

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Steve Cooper's struggling Forest side, who are now without a win in 10 consecutive league games, are third from bottom, level on 27 points with 17th-placed Everton.

Antony scored in the 32nd minute at the City Ground, sliding in to poke home a rebound after goalkeeper Keylor Navas's brilliant save kept out Anthony Martial's shot.

In the 56th minute, Bruno Fernandes hit a vicious shot on the run that Navas leapt to push out of danger before diving to keep out another shot by the Portugal midfielder four minutes later.

"The result is the most important for me," said Fernandes. "I want to get points because we want to be in the Champions League next season ... and I want to get my goals, but the team comes always first."

Dalot then netted his first Premier League goal to put the game out of reach in the 76th, running onto a pinpoint through ball from Antony.

"It was special. At that moment, the goal was important as well," Dalot told Sky Sports. "I think with 2-0 we were a bit more comfortable in the game. It's always special to score for this club but I'm more happy with the result."

United are missing striker Marcus Rashford and defender Raphael Varane for a few weeks, while Lisandro Martinez is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury.

"Inside the dressing room, I think we were calm," added Dalot. "We knew through the season that we weren't only 11 players. We've shown this in the past, this season, so today was one more game.

"Players get injured, this is football, but everybody was ready. And I think today we showed that we are a proper squad, and we are very happy with the game."

On Sunday, midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, who scored twice in the 2-2 draw at home to Sevilla in their Europa League quarterfinal, first leg in midweek, injured his groin in the warm-up.