Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Nottingham Forest: Fernandes Joins Legendary Company

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes equaled the Premier League’s single season assist record in his team’s 3–2 win against Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.

It was a final home game of the season for Michael Carrick’s team, who have now guaranteed third place before next weekend’s final round of matches. Fernandes had got his 19th assist of the season against Brentford in April, but the record-tying 20th to match Thierry Henry (2002–03) and Kevin De Bruyne (2019–20) proved elusive in subsequent clashes with Liverpool and Sunderland.

However, having now equaled that all-time feat, the Portuguese has 90 minutes more—against Brighton & Hove Albion next Sunday—to surpass it.

Luke Shaw set the ball rolling in the five-goal thriller early on, arrowing a breakthrough goal into the bottom corner inside the first five minutes at Old Trafford.

Bryan Mbeumo hit the post midway through the first half, seconds after Senne Lammens had come up big with a one-on-one save to Morgan Gibbs-White at the other end. United recycled the ball straight from striking the woodwork and Casemiro poked an effort agonizingly wide.

Forest began to gain a foothold towards the end of the first half and then returned from the half-time interval on the front foot. That momentum following the break contributed to getting back level through center back Morato, who headed in Elliot Anderson’s teasing cross.

But parity didn’t last, because only moments later Matheus Cunha had fired the Red Devils back in front. The finish wasn’t controversial, profiting off the rebound from Mbeumo’s blocked shot, but the referee’s decision to allow the goal to stand after a VAR review of a possible handball was.

Michael Carrick’s team extended the lead with Mbeumo’s first goal since early February. Just as importantly, the finish was set up by Fernandes, who had drifted to the right flank and fired an inviting ball across the box for his grateful teammate.

Forest didn’t remain two goals behind for long, though, immediately bringing the deficit back to one when Gibbs-White pulled off an impressive first-time finish from another Anderson cross.

As the visitors piled forward looking for an equalizer, United had late opportunities to extend the lead, including Diogo Dalot striking the post and Joshua Zirkzee forcing Matz Sels into an excellent save. Had either player scored, it would have been the record-breaking assist for their captain.

Three Things We Can’t Ignore

Man Utd’s Helping Hand

#MUNNFO – 55’

After VAR review, the referee stuck with the original decision to award a goal to Manchester United.

Referee announcement: “After review, the decision of goal stands because the handball offence is accidental, therefore the final decision is goal.”
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) May 17, 2026

The go-ahead goal that restored Manchester United’s lead at 2–1 had more than an element of fortune about it. The issue was with Mbeumo and the way the ball momentarily got caught between his hip and arm, which meant he was able to control it and shoot. From the block, the loose ball then fell to Cunha and the Brazilian found the bottom corner.

There was a VAR intervention, eventually advising on-field official Michael Salisbury to look again and potentially disallow the goal. He consulted the monitor and decided that the contact with Mbeumo’s arm was accidental and the goal should stand. Had Mbeumo himself scored from the original shot, the goal would have been ruled out because of rules covering any type of handball from goalscorers.

Elliot Anderson’s Sparkling Audition

Elliot Anderson vs. Man Utd — Elliot Anderson set up both Nottingham Forest goals. | Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

Elliot Anderson has been one of the players most heavily linked with filling the Casemiro-shaped void in Manchester United’s midfield this summer.

The Forest star has had an outstanding individual year and has played himself into a possible starting berth for England at the World Cup, and this performance was no different. Anderson, who is also a reported target for Manchester City and could exceed $100 million in the transfer market, made Forest more dangerous with both his running and his quality on the ball.

Signing players who have done well against United was a hallmark of Sir Alex Ferguson’s transfer strategy, if you think back to the likes of Teddy Sheringham, Dwight Yorke and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Luke Shaw’s Renaissance

If the Premier League had an award like the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year, then Luke Shaw would be a prime contender to win it in 2025–26.

The 30-year-old left back has had a career ravaged by injuries. He’s started all 37 Premier League games this season, and is likely to make that 38 next weekend, compared to just 16 league starts across the 2023–24 and 2024–25 campaigns combined because of several lengthy absences.

Shaw did an admirable job as an auxiliary center back when Ruben Amorim was manager and has excelled since returning to his natural position on the left since January. When fully fit, he remains England’s best left back, but it could already too late for a return to the national team in time for the World Cup. Shaw was overlooked for Thomas Tuchel’s most recent squad in March and it is not known whether his name features on the undisclosed preliminary list submitted to FIFA on Monday.

Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1)

Bryan Mbeumo celebrates — Bryan Mbeumo ended his goal drought. | Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

*Player ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Senne Lammens—6.8: Daring with the ball at his feet on more than one occasion. Made important saves at 1–0 and 2–1.

RB: Diogo Dalot—7.8: Emerged victorious in all but one of his duels. Could have scored a history-making goal in stoppage time.

CB: Harry Maguire—7.6: Cleared almost everything that came into his penalty area, but will be disappointed the team conceded twice.

CB: Lisandro Martínez—7.3: Complemented Maguire’s more front-foot style.

LB: Luke Shaw—7.2: Took his early goal really well, confusing the four defenders around him by shaping to shoot and using that to give himself more space for the actual shot.

CM: Casemiro—6.3: The Brazilian was serenaded by United’s adoring fans in his last home appearance before leaving. Narrowly missed an opportunity to mark it with a goal, but received an emotional standing ovation upon being withdrawn late on.

CM: Kobbie Mainoo—7.0: Close to flawless in possession.

RM: Amad Diallo—6.8: At fault for the first Forest goal, applying poor pressure and too easily beaten by Anderson, who then crossed to assist.

AM: Bruno Fernandes—8.3: Covered plenty of ground but Forest did well to shackle his creativity for more than an hour, until he broke free. Slid in Mbeumo once and fell to his knees in frustration when the effort was skied, but set up the same player a bit later. Created eight chances by the end.

LM: Matheus Cunha—8.4: Had emerged as United’s primary source of creativity while Fernandes was marked, even before putting his team into a 2–1 lead.

ST: Bryan Mbeumo—8.4: Worked tirelessly to end his three-month goal drought. Hit the post, fired another glorious opportunity over and it looked like the slump would go on, until Fernandes put the ball on a plate for him in the 76th minute.

SUB: Joshua Zirkzee (80’ for Mbeumo)—6.4

SUB: Patrick Dorgu (81’ for Cunha)—6.4

SUB: Mason Mount (81’ for Casemiro)—N/A

Subs not used: Altay Bayındır (GK), Ayden Heaven, Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Tyrell Malacia, Manuel Ugarte.

What the Ratings Tells Us

Bruno Fernandes — Fernandes is a step closer to writing a piece of history. | Zohaib Alam/MUFC/Manchester United/Getty Images

Man Utd did the right thing signing Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo last summer. Both players did far more to influence the game beyond scoring and Mbeumo in particular showed a resilience to keep going, even after missing a great chance.
This wasn’t a vintage performance from Amad Diallo. The Ivorian winger was the least dangerous of the attacking players on display and needed to do much more to stop Elliot Anderson crossing for the Nottingham Forest equalizer.
Bruno Fernandes is irrepressible. The captain was kept quiet for more than half the game, unable to do his thing, but he refused to let that define his afternoon.

The Numbers That Explain an Energetic, Fun Match

Man Utd could and should have scored more, underperforming their xG and missing four big chances out of the six they created.
Fans were treated to an entertaining spectacle, with 40 attempts on goal overall.
This one felt like a clean, free-flowing match, with only 16 fouls accumulated by both teams.

Statistic	Man Utd	Nottingham Forest
Possession	49%	51%
Expected Goals (xG)	4.19	1.75
Total Shots	29	11
Shots on Target	8	4
Big Chances	6	3
Passing Accuracy	88%	84%
Fouls Committed	11	5
Corners	7	6

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