Manchester United will take a 3-0 lead into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest next week, having already put one foot in the Wembley final next month.
Marcus Rashford and Wout Weghorst each scored in the first half for Erik ten Hag’s team, who were not always at their best over the 90 minutes, with Bruno Fernandes adding a third late on.
In their first trip to the City Ground since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored four times in an 8-1 win in 1999, the visitors made a strong start when Rashford ran with the ball from inside his own half, cut inside as he reached the penalty and finished calmly with only six minutes on the clock.
Forest appeared to be struggling with their shape – essentially a midfield diamond that offered little width in midfield and insufficient protection of the full-backs. It showed because United continued to threaten from out wide and Antony had a couple of chances he missed the target with.
A Forest goal against the run of play midway through the first half was ruled out by VAR – Sam Surridge’s knee was marginally offside – but it showed a potential danger on the break.
Despite the disappointment of seeing a goal chalked off, it seemed to give the hosts some hope and a head of steam as Gustavo Scarpa forced David de Gea into a save with a precision volley. Brennan Johnson’s pace also posed a threat and quickly gave him two good chances he couldn’t take.
Both teams were having the opportunities to score and a slick United move put Antony through on goal, with the Brazilian unable to lift it over the onrushing Wayne Hennessey.
But Hennessey was culpable when United got some breathing right at the end of the first half. He didn’t deal with Antony’s volley properly, parrying the ball back into the danger area and Weghorst was there to smartly mop up the rebound.
The Forest goalkeeper began the second half better, saving at close-range to deny Weghorst a second. But he could only look and hope as Christian Eriksen curled a beauty of an effort towards goal from the edge of the box that came back off the crossbar.
Eriksen’s influence on the game grew as the minutes ticked by and while Forest did have a chance when Morgan Gibbs-White picking Casemiro’s pocket in a dangerous area, only to lash the resultant shot off target, United were increasingly in control and stifled the hosts.
The late third goal from Fernandes was a fine strike from the United skipper, driving a low shot beyond Hennessey…
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