With UEFA Champions League football assured, today was largely about giving Casemiro a send-off in his Old Trafford finale.
The outgoing wasn’t involved in United’s flying start, but the hosts hit the front inside the opening five minutes when the Forest defence could only half clear Bruno Fernandes’ cross, and Luke Shaw took one touch to settle himself before arrowing a half volley into the bottom corner - his first goal since January 2023 and United’s fastest PL home goal in two years.
Morgan Gibbs-White ought to have hit back for Forest midway through the half when he was freed in behind the United mistake, but a huge Senne Lammens save denied him an equaliser.
That miss so nearly proved costly too, as United countered up the other end and rattled the woodwork when Bryan Mbeumo rounded Matz Sels and crashed an effort against post before Casemiro volleyed the recycled cross narrowly wide of the target.
Most of the first half flashpoints came in those 30 seconds, with a Lisandro Martinez blocked shot about as close as either side came to a goal after that, but with United going into the break ahead, their formidable unbeaten record when leading league games at half-time, which stood at 399 games before today, was likely to secure them the point they needed to secure third place.
That was a record which was coming under threat within 10 minutes of the restart, when a short corner culminated with Elliot Anderson planting a perfect delivery onto the head of Morato, who headed home his first Forest goal.
United hit back straight from the restart when Matheus Cunha swept home a loose ball inside the area, but it wasn’t without controversy as Mbeumo looked to have controlled the ball with his arm before his blocked shot fell to the Brazilian.
VAR checked it, and after being sent to the screen, referee Michael Salisbury took the unusual step to uphold his initial decision to the dismay of Forest.
Desperately chasing an assist to equal the all-time PL record in a single season, Fernandes was on his knees moments later when he played Mbeumo through on goal and he fired high over the bar.
The Portuguese didn’t have to wait too long, though, as the same duo combined for United’s third when Fernandes rifled a ball across the area, which Mbeumo turned home to end his 11-game goal drought and etch Fernandes’ name into the history books alongside Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne as the only players in PL history to have racked up 20 assists in a single season.
That didn’t deter Forest, who hit back moments later with a smart finish from Gibbs-White who steered home Anderson’s delivery to ensure a third straight Old Trafford head-to-head between these two sides ended 3-2, despite the best efforts of Diogo Dalot, who hit the post in stoppage time just moments before Joshua Zirkzee forced Sels into a strong save.
United’s remarkable turnaround under Carrick ends with a third-place finish and will reportedly be enough to earn him the permanent job, while defeat for Forest has little consequence as their safety is already assured.