Casemiro’s 89th-minute winner against Nottingham Forest secured Manchester United a quarterfinal FA Cup matchup at Old Trafford next month against their longtime rivals Liverpool.
The Brazilian raced in to head home a free kick from Bruno Fernandes, but the goal wasn’t awarded until after a protracted Video Assistant Referee (VAR) examination.
As under-pressure current manager Erik ten Hag maintained his sole remaining opportunity of capping his second season with a trophy, Sir Alex Ferguson sat next to new United director Sir Dave Brailsford on the pitch where he famously won an FA Cup third-round tie to save his own job in 1990.
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The visitors prevailed in a match that did seem headed for extra time, but they also missed several good chances to end the contest.
In an attempt to advance to the round of eight for just the second time since 1996, Forest just seldom found the net. United custodian Andre Onana turned away good chances from Taiwo Awoniyi and Divock Origi.
In the end, Casemiro’s fifth goal of the year proved to be sufficient to get them through. When United visits Manchester City on Sunday, who defeated them in the FA Cup final the previous season, they will need to be significantly more efficient because Harry Maguire is out with what appears to be a knee injury.
Antony’s frustration persists
During his pregame press conference, Ten Hag shocked a few by claiming that Antony was among the fastest players over ten yards, and he had the numbers to prove it.
For the first time since he scored goals in the previous round’s victory at Newport, he was starting, and it was difficult to understand how he arrived at that measurement.
In actuality, the former Ajax man’s possession had a tendency to be cyclical. When he received the ball on the right, he would usually lay the ball off or take a few halting steps to his right before cutting inside and taking a few steps across the pitch.
Not because of that, though, as United paid £82 million to acquire Antony at Ten Hag’s urging shortly before the summer 2022 transfer deadline, becoming him the club’s second most expensive player in history, behind Paul Pogba.
It looked like the game might go into extra time when Marcus Rashford, who was also having one of his less productive nights, blasted wide after racing into the box.
To the pleasure of the guests, Casemiro had different ideas, and it turned out to be the game-winning goal he scored in September.
