Manchester United put one foot in the final of the Carabao Cup as they beat Nottingham Forest in the first leg of the semi-final.
United, who last won a trophy under Jose Mourinho back in 2017, were keen to bounce back to winning ways after their Premier League defeat at the hands of Arsenal over the weekend, and they did in style.
Erik Ten Hag’s Red Devils started the clash well at the City Ground and got their reward in the sixth minute when Marcus Rashford breezed through four Forest players and fired the ball into the net with his left foot.
Forest stepped up a notch, created several chances, and even got the ball in the net via Sam Sturbridge in the 24th minute but a VAR review saw the goal chalked off for offside.
Then just before half-time, Wout Weghorst doubled the lead with his first United goal as he fired in a rebound shot from Antony.
And just before the final whistle, captain Bruno Fernandes wrapped up the win with a low drive shot.
The United boss was pleased with the win but called out his players for being complacent, especially in the first half, saying ‘those moments can’t happen’.
'Over 90 minutes we controlled it.'
"I'm happy with the performance and I think over 90 minutes we controlled it,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “There was one moment that could have changed the game and that is where we need to improve but overall we controlled it.
"They changed the system and we didn't anticipate that. It can't happen. That is still a moment where we have to learn and improve as a team if we want to be top. Those moments can't happen.
"I know it's what he (Rashford) is capable of. He has a really good goalscoring record. We created some more good chances. It was a real striker's goal.
"We almost let them come into the game and we can't allow an opponent to get back into the game when we started so good. We dictated it totally then in one moment it can change. We need to avoid that.
"I think in the second half we were much more composed and we tracked them. It was much better.
"We had already planned the substitute. Marcus Rashford did his job and scored another goal so we were in a good position.
"Yeah we have to play one game. We have to do the same, prepare and make a good game plan. The players have to be focused."
Weghorst - 'A great result for us tonight.'
United goalscorer Wout Weghorst added: "A great night for us. A great result and of course after this first match, victory, it is a really good chance to get to the final.
"It's always special and you want to score goals. You prefer to have this first one as quick as possible so I was really happy. I think it was an important moment also. It gave us a good feeling at the break.
"We started well and had a great goal. We didn't have the control like we wanted it and made it too much up and down after. We were lucky their goal was disallowed then to make it 2-0 before half-time was important.
"I just turned to the goal hoping for a rebound and it came exactly like this. It was nice.
"We were not happy with the way we had played in the first half, we wanted more control. That's something we did in the second half and with the 3-0 at the end it made it even better.
"It's a great result for us tonight, let's finish it next week."
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