In the early morning of December 31, Beijing time, the 20th round of the English Premier League continued, and Nottingham Forest sat at home to face Manchester United. In this game, Elanga, who had few chances under Ten Hag, faced his old boss.
In the last round of the league, Nottingham Forest broke out a big upset, winning 3-1 away at Newcastle, and finally ushered in a rebound after the change of manager, ending the dismal form of 7 losses and 1 draw. With this victory, Nottingham Forest sit 16th in the table, two points clear of the relegation zone.
Manchester United played Villa at home in the last round, and after being two goals down, staged a super comeback, winning 3-2 against Villa, ending one draw and three defeats in all competitions. Even so, thanks to West Ham's win in the last round, United can only sit in seventh place. As long as Manchester United can win this game, they can temporarily overtake West Ham United and return to the top six.
It is worth noting that the two teams have met in the past, and Manchester United has won 11 consecutive victories against Nottingham Forest, which can be called Forest's number one nemesis. In terms of total value, the gap between the two teams is quite large, with Manchester United reaching 800 million euros and Nottingham Forest only 400 million euros.
After the opening, both teams did not switch between attack and defense quickly enough, and the game was played drowsy. Nottingham Forest had more shots on goal but struggled to hit the target.
In the 31st minute, Aaron Wan-Bissaka took a long-range shot from outside the box, the ball deflected and lost power, which was also United's only shot on goal in the first half.
After half-time, both teams had 6-1 shots on goal and failed to find the back of the net.
Ten Hag made a substitution immediately after half-time, with Scott McTominay coming on as a substitute.
In the 54th minute, Aaron Wan-Bissaka passed the ball and Dalot's pocket shot the neutral post, which was also the closest two teams came to scoring.
Ten minutes later, there was another major hole in United's backline. In the 64th minute, the Red Devils were completely unguarded near the penalty spot, and Dominguez opened the scoring as if in training.
During the whole goal, Manchester United's defenders and Onana did not react at all, which was embarrassing enough.
谁来拯救滕哈赫？还要看加纳乔。
In the 78th minute, Turner made two consecutive mistakes on the ball, and Garnacho flew to tackle the ball and sent a perfect assist, and Rashford equalised.
Ten Hag was thrilled for just four minutes before United conceded another goal. In the 82nd minute, Forest played a quick counter-attack, Elanga provided an assist, and White scored easily at the top of the arc of the penalty area.
For the remainder of the game, United were unable to find the back of the net again. In the end, Manchester United lost 2-1 away to Nottingham Forest and have won just one of their last six games in all competitions to remain in seventh place.