Manchester United rally to beat Nottingham Forest after Old Trafford fightback

Bruno Fernandes scores winner after Red Devils concede twice in first four minutes

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates scoring his side's third goal against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on Saturday, August 26, 2023. PA

Bruno Fernandes scores Manchester United's third goal from the penalty spot against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford. Getty

Manchester United's Casemiro celebrates with Diogo Dalot after scoring his team's equaliser. AFP

Manchester United's Casemiro scores his side's second goal. PA

Manchester United's Casemiro heads the ball at Old Trafford on Saturday. Reuters

Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's opening goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford. AP

Manchester United's Christian Eriksen celebrates with Bruno Fernandes after scoring his team's first goal. Getty

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana conceded two goals inside the first five minutes. PA

Nottingham Forest's Willy Boly celebrates scoring the second goal with Morgan Gibbs-White and Joe Worrall. Reuters

Manchester United staged a memorable fightback at Old Trafford to defeat Nottingham Forest 3-2 after conceding two goals in the first four minutes on Saturday.

United thus came from two goals down to win a Premier League game at Old Trafford for only the third time.

Bruno Fernandes scored the winner from the penalty spot after Casemiro had equalised for United in a match that seemed all but lost after opening few minutes.

United's slow start to the season went from bad to worse as Nottingham Forest struck twice early. Taiwo Awoniyi burst clear from a United corner to score for the seventh consecutive league game after 90 seconds.

There were just three minutes and 45 seconds on the clock when Willy Boly then found the net from Morgan Gibbs-White's free-kick.

United, who had escaped with a 1-0 win over Wolves in their opening game of the season despite being outplayed by the visitors and were then beaten 2-0 at Tottenham last weekend, looked to be slipping towards more despair.

Christian Eriksen then began the comeback after 17 minutes when he touched in Marcus Rashford's cross.

Casemiro levelled from close range in the 52nd minute and Forest were reduced to 10 men when Joe Worrall was red-carded for hauling down Fernandes outside the area.

Ten minutes later Rashford went down in the area after slight contact from Danilo and Fernandes stepped up to beat American keeper Matt Turner from the penalty spot and seal United's second win of the season.

After the match, Fernandes said his team did well to maintain their focus despite a disastrous start.

"It wasn’t the perfect start for us but we kept control, kept the ball and started doing the right things. They defended well with a lot of players and it was difficult to get through, but we got the result and that’s the most important thing," Fernandes was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"I knew we had time to change the situation, but we kept calm. We started to keep the ball at the back and gain confidence. We know what it means to be a Manchester United player. We know this shirt demands a lot and we are ready for that. The team showed great spirit, passion and desire."

This was United's first match since it was agreed that Mason Greenwood will leave Old Trafford, where injuries meant Mason Mount and Luke Shaw were in the directors' box.