Manchester United opened the scoring against Nottingham Forest – in controversial fashion – when Casemiro headed into the net from a Bruno Fernandes corner.
15:48, 01 Nov 2025Updated 18:50, 01 Nov 2025
Casemiro scored for Manchester United against Nottingham Forest – but it wasn’t without controversy.(Image: (Photo by Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock))
Casemiro’s opening goal for Manchester United in their Premier League match with Nottingham Forest perhaps shouldn’t have counted. Ruben Amorim’s side dominated the opening 30 minutes and got their reward when the Brazil international headed home a Bruno Fernandes corner.
However, that set-piece was a contentious issue. Nicola Savona headed away a dangerous cross as he looked to keep the ball in, though the assistant referee – who was on the other side of the pitch – put his flag up for a corner that Casemiro subsequently scored from.
Ex-Premier League referee Mike Dean has since made his thoughts on the incident perfectly clear.
“Its not out,” he admitted on Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday. “The assistant referee can’t see it, but the ball is nowhere near out. It’s just a guess by the assistant referee.”
The half-time whistle at the City Ground just 10 minutes later was met by boos from the home supporters with Elliot Anderson among the players that complained to officials. United will not care very much, however, as they search a fourth consecutive victory in the Premier League.
Wins over Brighton, Liverpool and Sunderland came before the trip to Nottingham with Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Casemiro proving clinical in front of goal.
Only playing once every seven days has, seemingly, helped United and Amorim with another three points this afternoon likely to take them into the top-four, if only for a few hours.
Speaking on Forest, he said at a press conference: “More or less, I watched the last game, it was one of the first ones here that we won, we were so lucky in that game. I watched against Porto, I watched against Bournemouth, the style of play is similar, with different characteristics.
“I watched one game that we didn’t pre-season with Sporting CP, so to try to understand how he played in that game. It’s similar, he can change some characteristics of the players with the talent that they have, especially with Gibbs-White, Anderson, Hudson-Odoi, very good players.
“So we need to be prepared for a different game against Brighton. We had space to play. We are not going to have that space.
“You need to understand that we are not being the same team away and at home, so we need to improve the way we control the environment. Every tackle is a big moment for the opponent’s fans, so we need to play better away.
“We are prepared for a very tough match.”
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