Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper sensed Manchester United fans could’ve turned on the players last night.
Forest thought they had reduced the deficit just before the break, only for Ryan Yates’ header to be ruled out for offside after it had gone in off the foot of Willy Boly. Chances came at both ends of the pitch in the second half, but Fred had the final say for the hosts.
“We’ve lost 3-0, so the main reflection is one of disappointment,” said Cooper. “We knew it was possible that United were going to have a lot of the possession and territory, what I’m disappointed with is they’ve created from a set-piece where we’ve clearly not stuck to what we were supposed to do. And then it was from a counterattack, when we are in their box trying to create a moment; three or four seconds later it’s behind our back line, and they are clinical.
“It’s disappointing we’ve given away the goals we did. United were the better team throughout and deserved to win the game, but what we didn’t do was make the most of any good moments we had.
“We did find some good positions in the first half, but we didn’t make the most of them. We had enough corners and set-pieces to have more of an opportunity to create and score goals. Delivery has let us down.
“What was really interesting was how the atmosphere changed in the stadium when the crowd thought it was a goal for us. I thought if it had been 2-1, then it could have created a little bit of anxiety in the stadium, and we could have jumped on that a little bit. It didn’t go our way and it changed back to a positive atmosphere.
“We never gave up in the game. I’ve no problems with the attitude and the commitment – a little bit with the decision-making.
“The overriding factor is United were better than us tonight and deserved to win the game. But I just think we lacked quality and, for me, belief when we had moments to make a difference in the game. That’s something we are going to have to do better going forward.”
