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AMAD DIALLO STRIKES LATE TO EARN MANCHESTER UNITED FOREST DRAW

Manchester United's winning streak ended in a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest. Casemiro put United ahead, but goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona were only partially answered by Amad Diallo's late volley.

Amad Diallo strikes late to earn Manchester United Forest draw
Amad Diallo celebrates his late equaliser - Photo Credit: PA Wire

When struggling Nottingham Forest held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw, Ruben Amorim's hopes of winning the league for the fourth time in a row were dashed.

When Casemiro's first-half goal gave Amorim's squad a 1-0 lead at the City Ground, it appeared as though they would move up to second place in the standings.

After the interval, however, Forest, who had not scored in the league since September 20, came charging back.

After Morgan Gibbs-White tied the score for the home team in the 48th minute, Nicolo Savona's tap-in two minutes later completed a stunning comeback.

However, United, who have significantly improved in recent weeks following a dismal start to the season, salvaged a point in the 81st minute thanks to a stunning volley from Amad Diallo.

Forest, who replaced fired manager Ange Postecoglou with Sean Dyche last month, is still in the relegation zone.

The City Ground seemed like the ideal location for United to continue their comeback and move back up the table, at least on paper.

The visitors got off to a strong start. Before the Slovenian missed another shot, close-season acquisition Benjamin Sesko ought to have done better from a pull-back by Bryan Mbeumo.

The decision to give United the corner that resulted in the first goal infuriated the home crowd. As Casemiro headed in his third goal of the season, jeers erupted from all sides of the stadium.

Late in the first half, Diallo had a fantastic opportunity to increase his team's lead by rushing over from a decent position. However, United collapsed after the restart due to his carelessness.

Gibbs-White easily defeated the United wing-back, heading past goalkeeper Senne Lammens to give the home team their first league goal since September.

Ninety-two seconds after the crowd was lifted, the turnaround was finished. Savona earned redemption with a close-range strike after United failed to handle another long ball into the penalty area.

After Forest had only partially cleared a corner, United replied brilliantly, with Bruno Fernandes' dazzling effort hitting the post at the hour mark. However, the home team's resistance was broken by Diallo's shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Diallo's rasping attempt in stoppage time was stopped by a goalline clearance, but Forest would have suffered a crushing defeat.

Despite his personal effort, Diallo of Manchester United commented after the game that the outcome was unsatisfactory.

When he told Sky Sports, "We are obviously upset to go home with one point,"

"We are now more confident. We have faith in the system and the manager. We are making every effort. The manager has the same faith in us that we do.

The visit to the City Ground on Saturday coincided with the best period of Erik ten Hag's turbulent tenure and was a year to the day when the Portuguese were announced as his successor.

Gibbs-White, the captain of Nottingham Forest, described the outcome as difficult.

He told Sky Sports, "The dressing room is unhappy not to get all three, but getting a point is good."

"I do not believe the first one was really a corner; we gave up two stupid corners. The boys all claimed that the ball had not gone out at halftime from where I was standing, which was quite a distance away.

EX-CAPTAIN NEVILLE CLAIMS SUBSTITUTIONS MADE MANCHESTER UNITED "WORSE" AGAINST WOLVES

Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim’s "weird" substitutions and tactical shifts after Manchester United's 1-1 draw with bottom-side Wolves.

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Was the halftime substitution a tactical error or an injury?

Gary Neville said that the performance of Manchester United in their match against winless Wolves was ‘the baddest of the bad.’

United would have moved fourth in the league with a win at Old Trafford last night, although Wolves, who had two points in 18 games before kickoff, ended their record of 11 straight losses with a 1-1 draw.

Amorim’s team had been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a League Two team, Grimsby, in August, but Neville was convinced that United had hit rock bottom in a game that could have been even more one-sided were it not for two important saves by Senne Lammens.

“That was the baddest of the bad," the former United captain declared on the Gary Neville podcast.

“They weren’t just booed off at the final whistle. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them. They’ve gone backwards.”

United had won at Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day, despite being plagued by an injury list that already lacked skipper Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, and Matthijs de Ligt, as well as three players on African Cup of Nations duty.

But they remained flat right from the first whistle, and the header by Ladislav Krejci just before the half bottled Joshua Zirkzee's deflected shot.

Amorim’s formation choice of 3-4-3 was brought into focus once more as the Portuguese opted to go back to his preferred tactic of four at the back against Newcastle.

“This isn’t right. I’ve watched enough of United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn’t right,” Neville had declared 20 minutes into his commentary on Sky Sports.

“Because, when I see that we go back (to three at the back) after five minutes tonight, I’m thinking, no, Ruben, why have you done that?

"The manager has to look at that and think, I got that wrong. I complicated it."

However, Amorim decided to substitute Zirkzee at halftime and brought on an 18-year-old Jack Fletcher, who made his third appearance at the senior level.

Regarding substitutions made by Amorim, Neville further added, “They made Manchester United worse. Every single substitution was ridiculous.”

‘If Zirkzee was injured, and it was a tactical substitution, that was a very poor one.’ But Zirkzee isn't Eric Cantona, not by a long shot, and he had to get out there for physicality, for presence, for experience.”

SEE LISANDRO MARTINEZ’S FURIOUS REACTION AFTER MAN UTD’S SHOCK WOLVES DRAW

Lisandro Martinez demands more after Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Wolves. United ended 2025 sixth in the Premier League.

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Martinez slams United’s tactical mistakes

Stand-in captain Lisandro Martinez was mad that Manchester United dropped points against Wolves, who are at the bottom of the league.

United came into the last game of 2025 after a good win against Newcastle on Boxing Day and were expected to easily beat Wolves.

Joshua Zirkzee scored first for United, but they didn't take their chances. Ladislav Krejci's header tied the game for Wolves, 1-1.

It was only their third point in 19 games, and it stopped their 11-game losing streak. United fans booed at the end of the game.

When Martinez was asked if it felt like a disappointing point, he said, 100 percent.

We are very disappointed. We can't keep drawing or losing points at home. We have to win.

We want to be at the top, competing with the best.

We can't drop points in games like this. We just have to accept it and be hungry for the next game.

Martinez was captain again because Bruno Fernandes is still recovering from an injury.

When United coach Ruben Amorim was asked about injured players for the game against Leeds on Sunday, he didn't give much away. Leeds are really wanting to beat United for the first time since 2010.

Martinez said to MUTV, You can either make excuses, or you can be strong and say, 'We're dropping points, so we need to go for the next one and show what we can do.'

We need to work together and do the easy things to get the three points.

United is in sixth place in the league at the end of 2025, only two points behind Liverpool for the last Champions League spot. Liverpool has a game in hand.

They could be in a better position if they had been better in both boxes. Leeds has been playing well lately, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing great up front.

Martinez added, It's about us. I don't like to think about other teams.

I'm thinking about what we can do to get better as a team every day, and we have to learn from this game.

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