Nottingham Forest sink Manchester United thanks to Gibbs-White goal

After Morgan Gibbs-White curled in Nottingham Forest’s fantastic winning goal with 82 minutes played, he celebrated by soaking up the adulation from the Trent End and putting his index fingers to his ears.

It is a tactic Erik ten Hag may need to utilise to shutout the never-ending noise surrounding his position and this flaky and unpredictable Manchester United side. It will only increase after this, a 14th defeat of the season across all . The last time they lost as many games before the turn of the year was 1930-31. Marcus Rashford cancelled out Nicolás Domínguez’s effort, giving United hope of staging another late comeback, but Gibbs-White wrapped his right foot around the ball from the edge of the box, in effect throwing another log on United’s fire.

Aston Villa punished United for their sluggish start at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, racing into a two-goal lead, but their first-half performance here, despite the teams heading in goalless, was equally flat and hardly anymore reassuring. Oddly, United’s vigour seemed to stem from a 35-year-old jobbing defender in Jonny Evans. The centre-back provided United with a cartoonish energy; flying into headers, missing headers, threading passes into midfield, hacking the ball upfield. At one point he made amends for a failed clearance by making a raking slide tackle on the former United academy youngster Anthony Elanga. Aaron Wan-Bissaka had United’s sole first-half shot on 33 minutes, his strike deflecting harmlessly into the gloves of Matt Turner, the Forest goalkeeper.

There was a slapstick element to an underwhelming first half. One added minute of stoppage time was enough for everyone. Diogo Dalot punted a hopeful pass straight into Gibbs-White approaching halfway after the Forest midfielder shifted to the wing to make a block and then André Onana, the United goalkeeper, wellied a kick straight into Chris Wood, whose hat-trick propelled Forest to victory at Newcastle, Nuno Espírito Santo’s first since replacing Steve Cooper.

So forgettable was the fare, the away supporters could be forgiven for training their eyes on the directors’ box as opposed to the pitch. It was there where the Ineos director of sport, Sir Dave Brailsford, who is expected to take a prominent role on United’s football board following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a minority stake in the club last week, took in the game. Brailsford, who also attended their comeback win against Villa, sat alongside Sir Alex Ferguson – a penny for his thoughts on United’s stagnancy – and in front of John Murtough, the football director whose long-term role in the new machine remains uncertain.

Forest lacked quality but at least there was a spark. Domínguez, promoted to the starting lineup, saw a first-time effort headed clear by Kobbie Mainoo with 52 seconds on the clock after he spied Elanga’s cutback. Elanga was the catalyst for much of Forest’s good work and his cross from the left prompted a panicked clearance by Raphaël Varane, the ball darting off his right hip but, to his relief, wide.

Ten Hag, insulated by a black puffer coat, stood on the edge of his technical area, hands rooted in pockets, and it was no surprise he sought change at the interval, introducing Scott McTominay in place of Mainoo. Then came Amad Diallo, for the anonymous Antony, who appeared to sustain an injury on his return to United’s starting lineup. United’s performance was listless, everything seemingly off the cuff, and on 63 minutes they got what they deserved as Forest seized the lead through Domínguez. Elanga punched a pass into Gonzalo Montiel, who this time last year was basking in the delight of scoring Argentina’s World Cup-winning penalty in Qatar, and the right-back swivelled on the ball in the box. From there he calmly picked out the unmarked Domínguez to his left and his countryman stroked the ball into the bottom corner, his sweet first-time right-foot finish giving Onana no chance in the United goal.

United were poor but did rattle the frame of Turner’s goal before Forest struck. Wan-Bissaka moseyed forward and cut the ball back to the edge of the D and Dalot cracked a first-time effort against a post. But Forest were rarely threatened and it never felt they were living dangerously. Alejandro Garnacho’s acrobatic effort to convert Bruno Fernandes’s corner at the back post saw his shot thud into the ground before landing on the roof of the Forest net.

Rashford levelled after feasting on an error by Turner, whose pass for Danilo was cut out by Garnacho. He squared for Rashford, who sidefooted a first-time effort low into a corner. It was the reason Turner roared when Gibbs-White struck, his winner at the end of a counterattack that began with Turner repelling a Christian Eriksen shot from distance.