Rúben Amorim Reacts To Man United 3-2 Premier League Defeat Against Nottingham Forest At Old Trafford.

• Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim reacts following his team's disappointing Premier League defeat at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.

• Amorim suffered two straight defeats for only the second time in his managerial career, with the first coming during his stint with former club Sporting in August 2022.

Man United failed to bounce back from the 2-0 lose against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in midweek, as they suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time under Amorim, losing 3-2 to Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.

Nottingham Forest capitalised on the Red Devil's defensive blunders to record their first win at Old Trafford in almost 30 years.

United conceded two set-piece goals from a corner-kick in their last game at Arsenal in midweek. An improvement was expected from that game, but yet within two minutes of the opener against Forest, his side had conceded again exactly the same way from a corner-kick.

Elliot Anderson sent his corner to the near post, Nikola Milenkovic had to wrestle with Lisandro Martinez which left the Argentine static and stranded, and the Forest defender headed home. 

Rasmus Hojlund levelled the score for United 16 minutes later, following up after Alejandro Garnacho's initial effort was saved by goalkeeper Matz Sels.

Jota Silva and Bruno Fernandes were denied by the woodwork during the first half before Morgan Gibbs-White made it 2-1 to Forest just two minutes again into the second-half.

United keeper Andre Onana was at fault for Forest's second goal, failing to make a low save to his right when Gibbs-White shot from the edge of the area, only to be beaten to his left as the ball did not move as he thought.

The Cameroonian shot-stopper has been one of United's better performers this season, yet his failure to deal with Gibbs-White's shot was inexplicable.

Onana and Matthijs de Ligt then let birthday boy Chris Wood's looping far-post header bounce between them, and Martinez failed to react either as the ball ended up in the far corner in the 54th minute.

It was Chris Wood's 10th league goal of the season which proved to be the winner.

United captain Bruno Fernandes struck a fine shot from just outside the box to pull one back in the 61st minute but it was not enough.

Despite making five changes Amorim's side pushed for an equaliser, they were unable to get back level for a second time after they conceded twice in seven minutes at the start of the second half.

The hosts were unable to get past a well composed Forest defence who kept it at bay to collect all important three points.

Forest now has 25 points from 15 matches, two points behind fourth-placed Man City, which drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace. While Man United is in 13th place with 19 points, and 10 points above relegation places.

This is United's lowest tally at this stage of a season since 1986-87. 

Amorim has won only one of his four league games in charge of the Red Devil's. He started his reign last month with a draw at Ipswich Town followed by a 4-0 win against Everton but predicted the club would "suffer for a long time" as he battled to improve their fortunes.

He admitted his team did not do enough to beat Nottingham Forest.

Speaking with BBC Sport, the Portuguese manager  said: “Tough game. We started really bad. The first play we suffered a goal and then it’s hard to try to fight. We then controlled the game and had a lot of situations.

“We improved the movement in the last third. We managed to draw the game and then, at halftime, we were ready to go for the win and then started really bad. Two goals. Then we tried a lot of things with not a lot of quality.

“We didn’t have many situations to score. Tough game in a tough moment but we have to continue the job.”

Amorim defended his decision to take off captain Fernandes in the 75th minute, with Mason Mount replacing him.

“Bruno was too tired and I wanted Mount to play that position of second midfielder who opens a bit on the left," Amorim said after the game.

"Joshua [Zirkzee] plays with Rasmus [Hojlund] to have combinations, [Leny] Yoro goes off because we can't give him too many minutes.

“We put Harry Maguire on because of set-pieces, to control more who was winning all the first balls, the only way to attack Nottingham was transitions, to try and win first and second balls. When Harry was on the pitch, he won all the first balls.”

"The defeat is not a surprise because we come in the middle of a lot of games," Amorim added.

"It's really disappointing for the fans, after so many times with disappointment, but we are here to do a job and will continue doing the same things to improve the team."