Anthony Elanga’s early goal saw Nottingham Forest secure home and away wins over Manchester United in the same league season for the first time since 1991-92. Look back at the match with the best facts and Opta data with our Nottingham Forest 1-0 Man Utd stats page.
Nottingham Forest continued their dream season, beating Manchester United 1-0 and moving nine points clear of fifth place Manchester City in their quest for Champions League qualification.
It was their 17th Premier League win of the season, only one fewer than they won across the last two seasons combined (18). Two of those have come against United, with Forest securing league wins both home and away in the same season versus the Red Devils since 1991-92 under the great Brian Clough.
For United, it means that Ruben Amorim’s side are still without back-to-back Premier League wins this season, one of only three sides yet to manage this in 2024-25 alongside relegation-threatened Ipswich and Southampton.
Anthony Elanga scored the opening goal against his former club, racing from inside his own half and, despite having three United players around him, was able to skip inside the box and net in the fifth minute.
It was a characteristic counter attack from Forest, with just 16 seconds between Bruno Fernandes taking the corner for Man Utd and Elanga racing up the other end to score past André Onana.
That goal was the 23rd time this season than United have conceded the opening goal in all competitions. Among current Premier League clubs, only struggling Leicester City (25) have done so more often.
The remainder of the game saw Forest sit deep to defend their lead but still with their obvious threat on the break, as United looked for an equaliser.
That equaliser never arrived despite United attempting 24 shots – including a Harry Maguire shot in added time that was cleared off the line by the excellent Murillo – and they suffered a second consecutive defeat at the City Ground having lost 2-1 there last season. That means that United have lost in successive league campaigns away at Forest for the first time since 1988-89/1989-90.
For Forest, the 1-0 victory meant that they kept their 13th Premier League clean sheet of the season, overtaking Liverpool (12) as the outright leaders for the statistic in 2024-25.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester United stats from Tuesday night’s Premier League match at the City Ground.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Man Utd Stats: Post-Match
Nottingham Forest have earned 57 points in the Premier League this season, their second-highest ever total from their opening 30 games of a top-flight campaign (assuming three points for a win, all-time), after only their only title-winning campaign in 1977-78 (67).
Manchester United suffered their 13th defeat of the season in the Premier League, their second-most in a campaign in the competition, one short of their record of 14 in 2023-24.
Manchester United had 24 shots in this match, their most in a Premier League game in which they failed to score since September 2021 against Aston Villa (28), and their joint-most on record (from 2003-04) in an away game without scoring in the competition (also 24 v West Ham in Dec 2006, Portsmouth in Oct 2004, and Portsmouth in Apr 2004).
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