EFL Cup: 3 things we clearly learnt about Man United after their 2-0 win v Forest | OneFootball

Manchester United booked their place in the EFL Cup final after beating Nottingham Forest 5-0 on aggregate.

United headed into the second leg already with one foot in the final, as they had a 3-0 lead from last week’s first leg thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst, and Bruno Fernandes.

It was a game that many would have described as being a dead rubber and the opening period of the game, there was a sense that United were just seeing out the 90 minutes.

It was a game with little action in the opening 60 minutes, but as the game approached the 70th minute, Ten Hag decided to change things up and brought Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Jadon Sancho onto the field, as the United boss clearly wanted to win.

Moments later, United opened the scoring and sealed their place at Wembley, with midfielder Casemiro playing Martial through, who ran on goal before passing to Rashford, but his pass was misplaced, and it bounced back to the Frenchman, who turned and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.

Three minutes later, United doubled their lead when a well-worked team goal that started with Fernandes’ cross-field ball with the outside of his boot was passed back across goal from Rashford for Fred to just slot the ball into an empty net and book the home side’s place in the final.

As United sealed their place in the final on the 26th February, here at FLW, we have taken a look at three things we learnt from Manchester United after their 2-0 win over Forest.

Ten Hag has once again demonstrated to Manchester United fans how important this competition is to his team.

Despite the fact United came into this game on the back of a 3-0 lead from the first leg, the Manchester United boss still went and named a strong starting XI.

The only noticeable absentees from their normal starting XI were David de Gea in goal, who was replaced by Tom Heaton, Christian Eriksen because of his long-term injury and Rashford was placed on the bench and Alejandro Garnacho was given a start.

Every round in the EFL Cup this season, Ten Hag has named his strongest possible XI, even when the club have played Burnley from the Championship and Charlton Athletic from League One.

The EFL Cup provides every team with an opportunity to win the first piece of silverware for the season, and clearly, Ten Hag thinks that is a valid reason to name his strongest teams.

United are a side that hasn’t won a trophy for a while, and he clearly believes that if they can go on and win this trophy, it can set them up well for the rest of the campaign and for future success.

Fred ready to step up

Fred might have been a player who many at Manchester United could have wondered if he had a future at the club after Ten Hag was appointed United’s new manager.

However, after a disappointing start the Brazilian has now seemed to have gone up another level since the Dutchman’s arrival, while still not playing all the time. Fred has seemingly adapted well to becoming this impact player off the bench, as the previous weeks have shown he can come on and chip in with a few goals.

But now with Eriksen’s injury, the likelihood is that Fred will have a lot more game time coming in these next few months, and if he keeps performing and scoring goals, he could continue to be an important member of this United team.

Under previous managers, Fred was more used as a deeper midfield player, but Ten Hag has seemingly scrapped that idea and played the Brazilian in a more advanced role. A role that seems to get the best out of Fred, with the midfielder impressing in recent weeks, whether that be from the start or coming off the bench.

In their recent derby day win over Manchester City, Fred showed he can be trusted and is an important player to have in United’s big games of the season. Therefore, the Brazilian could be set to start in the EFL Cup final come the end of the month, with Eriksen’s absence being confirmed.

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Martial still has a role to play

Martial returned to the Man United matchday squad last night after several weeks out with an injury.

Yet, despite being on the sidelines for long periods of time throughout this season, Martial has kept showing why Ten Hag rates the Frenchman very highly.

The 27-year-old has only appeared in 14 games in all competitions so far this season, but in those limited appearances, the Frenchman has scored six goals and provided two assists.

Martial has been a player at Old Trafford who, when he is loved and the manager shows his trust in him, repays that with goals. These last few seasons have been a struggle for Martial in terms of game time and falling in and out of favour, but this season has been a struggle in a different sense.

The 27-year-old has picked up several injuries one after the other, and it’s been a frustration for him and his manager. The more frustrating part is that when he has played, he has been heavily involved in goal contributions, and this is why Ten Hag still rates the 27-year-old.

Last night again, Martial showed that despite being on the pitch for only a matter of minutes, the forward was still able to show his natural scoring instincts.

The United boss will hope he can stay fit for the season now, and if he can, Martial will be looking to repay his manager’s trust by scoring more goals like Wednesday night.