Gary Neville claimed Erik ten Hag was “fuming” with Bruno Fernandes during Manchester United’s 3-0 Carabao Cup victory against Nottingham Forest.
Fernandes’ late goal wrapped up a commanding performance for Ten Hag’s side, as the club took a sizeable step towards their first Carabao Cup final since 2017 when they won the competition outright.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for the Old Trafford club - his tenth goal in as many games since the World Cup - while loanee Wout Weghorst netted his first United goal on the stroke of halftime.
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Despite the impressive display and positive result, Ten Hag was upset with Fernandes during the Carabao Cup encounter.
Gary Neville on Fernandes
With 40 minutes played and with United already a goal ahead, Fernandes mishit a shot from outside the box which sailed wide of goal.
The Portugal international’s pot shot wasted a good spell of United possession and invited the wrath of his manager Ten Hag.
Neville, who was on Sky Sports commentary, said: “He’s fuming Ten Hag, he’s absolutely right. He’s not having that.”
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Of course, Fernandes went on to redeem himself, rifling in a shot past Wayne Hennessey in the game’s dying embers to seal the win for United.
Ten Hag’s reflections
Indeed Ten Hag admitted post-match that he had been unhappy with his team’s performance in the first half, claiming that certain passages of play had been rushed.
The Dutch manager admitted: "I said at half-time I was not happy with the part of the game in the first half after they [Forest] changed their system.
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“And we have to avoid that. We have to stay calm, pass the ball around not too quickly for the final pass and maybe sometimes use some extra passing and then you can hurt opponents, especially when you are up in an away game. Control the game better, dictate the game."
Nevertheless, Ten Hag added: "I'm happy, happy with the performance. I think over 90 minutes we controlled the game and there was one moment which could have changed the game.
“That is what we have to be aware of, that is where we have to improve. But I think overall it was a good performance from our first team and now the first leg is done, with still one leg to go."
Topics: Football, Erik Ten Hag, Gary Neville, Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United, Carabao Cup, Nottingham Forest