Manchester United earned a point against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground as Amad Diallo scored a powerful shot in the 81st minute.
Manchester United thought they were on their way to a fourth consecutive win and second place in the table after Casemiro headed them ahead at halftime from a corner that Forest believed should not have been granted.
But the game changed in the space of two second-half minutes, as Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White outmuscled Amad to reach Ryan Yates’ deep cross from the right.
Forest scored on their following attack. Once again, they caused issues for Manchester United with a right-wing cross, with Nicolo Savona reacting first as Igor Jesus’ header bounced off bodies into the six-yard box, holding his cool to beat United keeper Senne Lammens.
However, in addition to improving their physical play, Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United appear to have grown stronger mentally, and rather than succumbing to loss, they clawed their way back into the game.
Bruno Fernandes hit the base of a post before Amad expertly latched onto a looping clearance just outside the area and volleyed first-time past Matz Sels.
Amad had a chance to win, but Murillo cleared his shot off the line in stoppage time.
Seven days ago, one of the central midfielders frequently connected with a move to United, Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, failed to impress at Old Trafford.
Another example is Forest’s Elliot Anderson, who performed admirably against Amorim’s team.
Anderson played with more intensity than Baleba. He was conscious of the risk, sneaking in to take possession from Matheus Cunha close to his own area midway through the first half, and was unconcerned about chasing down lost causes, as he was when retrieving a ball that appeared likely to cross the line in front of the home dugout.
Anderson chose his moments to press forward and would have been in a shooting position close to goal if he had controlled Callum Hudson-Odoi’s short ball on the edge of the box just before halftime.
Anderson also assisted in Forest’s equalizer, ferrying the ball to the right, where Yates floated it in for Gibbs-White to finish.
Once Forest had the lead, Anderson worked relentlessly to keep United at bay.
He maintained his discipline both with and without the ball to not stray out of position, and he was not afraid of committing a tactical foul when he took down Fernandes late in the game near the halfway line as the visiting captain threatened a devastating counterattack.
Anderson might have won it in the end. His shot was on target until it struck Luke Shaw and went wide.
One of Amorim’s more daring decisions during his first year in charge has been to trust Amad as a wing-back.
Whereas Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were judged unsuited for the position, Amorim trusted the Ivory Coast international, believing he was willing to handle the less glamorous parts of the job, such as defending and tracking back.
The change has diminished Amad’s attacking efficiency, but it has gained him a spot in the team, namely on his favorite right flank, where his relationship with Bryan Mbeumo has been one of the most prominent features of United’s recent progress.
There were both positive and negative aspects to this situation.
A natural defender would have undoubtedly posed more of a physical threat to Gibbs-White.
The Forest captain isn’t a striker, but he was far too powerful in the battle to get to Yates’ cross, and the space he had was enough for him to score.
The goal was vital since it altered the course of the game.
But then, as the game was drifting away from United, Amad struck with a magnificent volley that few on the ground could have completed, not even Patrick Dorgu and Diogo Dalot, his rivals for the wing-back position.
For the time being, it appears that Amorim and United will have to accept Amad’s good and terrible qualities.
Forest will play Sturm Graz in the Europa League on Thursday at 17:45 GMT, followed by a Premier League home game against Leeds United on November 9 at 14:00.
United’s next league game is at Tottenham on November 8th, at 12:30pm GMT.
