Casemiro scores
Casemiro’s goal was his first since netting against Crystal Palace at the end of September

Manchester United booked an FA Cup quarter-final with old rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford next month thanks to Casemiro’s 89th-minute winner against Nottingham Forest.

The Brazilian dashed in to flicked home Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick, although the goal was only given after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check.

On the ground where he famously won an FA Cup third-round tie to save his own job in 1990, Sir Alex Ferguson sat next to new United director Sir Dave Brailsford as under-pressure current boss Erik ten Hag preserved his only remaining chance of marking his second season with a trophy.

The visitors edged a game that did appear destined for extra time but wasted a string of excellent opportunities to break the deadlock.

Looking to reach the last eight for only the second time since 1996, Forest sparked only sporadically, with Divock Origi and Taiwo Awoniyi both having decent efforts saved by United keeper Andre Onana.

As it turned out, Casemiro’s fifth goal of the season was enough to see them through. But with Harry Maguire absent with a suspected knee injury, United will have to be far more effective on Sunday when they visit Manchester City, who beat them in last season’s FA Cup final.

Antony’s frustrations continue

Ten Hag surprised a few people in his pre-match press conference when he said Antony was one of the quickest players over 10 yards and he had the stats to back it up.

Starting for the first time since his goalscoring contribution to the previous round’s victory at Newport, it was not easy to see how he could arrive at that measurement.

The truth was the former Ajax man’s possession tended to follow a pattern. Receiving the ball on the right, he would tend to take a couple of stuttering strides to his right, then either cut inside and go across the pitch for a few strides or simply lay the ball off.

It was not the reason United made Antony the club’s second most expensive player in their history, behind Paul Pogba, when they paid £82m for him at Ten Hag’s insistence just before the summer 2022 transfer deadline.

The Brazilian was unfortunate an early effort from the edge of the area flicked off the crossbar, the end of a well-worked corner routine and part of an early offensive that should have seen the visitors ahead.

Scott McTominay was in a far better position than he realised when, unmarked, he steered an eight-yard header straight at Forest keeper Matt Turner. McTominay did much better with another Diogo Dalot cross later in the half, stooping low to steer another header towards goal which Turner kept out with a smart reaction save.

Antony had one more effort on the Forest goal in the second half before he was replaced by Amad Diallo 17 minutes from time, looking thoroughly fed up as he trudged to the sideline.

Marcus Rashford was also having one of his more ineffective nights and when he blazed wide after darting into the box, it seemed certain the match was heading to extra time.

To the delight of the visiting fans, Casemiro had other ideas, with his first goal since September proving decisive.

More to follow.

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Nottingham Forest

  1. Squad number1Player nameTurner

  2. Squad number7Player nameN Williams

  3. Squad number18Player nameFelipe

  4. Squad number40Player nameMurillo

  5. Squad number15Player nameToffolo

  6. Squad number22Player nameYates

  7. Squad number28Player nameDanilo

  8. Squad number27Player nameOrigi

  9. Squad number10Player nameGibbs-White

  10. Squad number21Player nameElanga

  11. Squad number9Player nameAwoniyi

  1. Squad number14Player nameHudson-Odoi

  2. Squad number20Player nameReyna

  3. Squad number37Player nameRodrigo Ribeiro

Manchester United

  1. Squad number16Player nameDiallo
  2. Squad number35Player nameEvans
  3. Squad number37Player nameMainoo

Line-ups

Nottm Forest

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Turner
  • 7N Williams
  • 18Felipe
  • 40Santiago Costa dos Santos
  • 15Toffolo
  • 22YatesSubstituted forReynaat 90+3′minutes
  • 28DaniloSubstituted forDuarte Ribeiroat 90+4′minutes
  • 27OrigiSubstituted forHudson-Odoiat 79′minutes
  • 10Gibbs-White
  • 21Elanga
  • 9Awoniyi

Substitutes

  • 8Kouyaté
  • 14Hudson-Odoi
  • 16Domínguez
  • 19Niakhaté
  • 20Reyna
  • 23Vlachodimos
  • 32Omobamidele
  • 37Duarte Ribeiro
  • 53Gardner

Man Utd

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 24Onana
  • 20Dalot
  • 2LindelöfBooked at 77mins
  • 19Varane
  • 4S AmrabatSubstituted forEvansat 90+4′minutes
  • 39McTominaySubstituted forMainooat 90+4′minutes
  • 18Casemiro
  • 21AntonySubstituted forDialloat 73′minutes
  • 8Bruno Fernandes
  • 17Garnacho
  • 10Rashford

Substitutes

  • 1Bayindir
  • 14Eriksen
  • 16Diallo
  • 35Evans
  • 37Mainoo
  • 53Kambwala
  • 62Forson
  • 65Collyer
  • 75Ogunneye

Referee:
Chris Kavanagh

Attendance:
28,665

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