It was the second most successful team in the history of the FA Cup Manchester United’s turn to take centre stage in this season’s competition yesterday, and thanks to Casemiro, the 32-year-old captain of the Brazilian national football team, the 12-time FA Cup winners were able to find successes in the fifth round competition against fellow English Premier League club Nottingham Forest at City Ground, winning the game right before the injury time was given in the second 45 minutes and progressing into the quarterfinals of the oldest football competition in the world in the 2023/2024 Season as a result.
Casemiro Netted 89th-Minute Winner for Erik ten Hag’s Men
Manchester United came into the domestic cup tie with hopes of returning to winning ways following their home defeat to Fulham at home that ended their seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions of late. It is also worth mentioning that prior to the league clash versus the Cottagers at Old Trafford, the Red Devils had their final loss in the Premier League against Nottingham Forest on City Ground, the same venue where Nuno Espírito Santo’s side played Erik ten Hag’s men in the FA Cup Fifth Round last night.
This FA Cup Fifth Round clash between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United was a wide-open game, as both teams combined for a whooping 36 shots in total throughout the 90 minutes plus added time, with the Red Devils dominating the numbers on shots on target (7 vs. 5) and possession (61% vs 39%). It was not until the final moments before the injury minutes were awarded in the following half that this domestic cup encounter between Nuno Espírito Santo’s club and Erik ten Hag’s side finally saw the opening goal.
A freekick at the left flank of Forest’s half was given to United in the 89th minute, and upstepped captain Bruno Fernandes for the set piece. Instead of going for a high delivery, the Portuguese opted to whip in a cross with the outside of his right boot, and the ball bounced before reaching Casemiro inside the six-yard box, followed by the Brazilian converting his fifth goal in 19 appearances for United in 2023/2024. Soon after Casemiro headed the ball into the net, the Nottingham Forest camp complained for a possible offside during the play, in which VAR denied after a long moment of checks, allowing the visitors to win the game by the slightest of margin in the end.
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Ten Hag on Casemiro: “Fantastic Football Player.”
Ten Hag could not have more positive notes on his midfield leader and the scorer of the winning goal against Forest last night Casemiro. The 54-year-old stated: “Absolutely, [Casemiro is an example] by leadership and he’s a fantastic football player. I think he’s scored so many goals for us. He scored more goals than he’s ever done in his whole career, for United, so that is great to have a player like Casemiro in the squad and in the team. Because you see how important he is for us when he is not there, like in October, November, December and January. We really missed him because he sets the structure in the team, his leadership, it makes us play better.”
In addition to offering praises to the Brazil skipper Casemiro, ten Hag also gave his club captain Bruno his well-deserved compliments as the leader of Manchester United. “He has a serious injury but he continued to play on Saturday and today he also fought to be part of the game and he has a very high pain threshold. Last year he did also something similar against Spurs and in the semi-final and it shows his leadership because that expresses his character and that is very good when you are a leader,” said the former AFC Ajax manager.
The losing head coach of this FA Cup Fifth Round tie Nuno, on the other hand, thought that his Forest side fought bravely despite the eventual defeat, saying “I didn’t see clearly the images but speaking with the players they say it is a block and a possible offside. They checked it. We have had so many issues in this period with VAR and referees that we try to forget about it and move forward. I think it was a good performance. It is frustrating to lose it in the end but I think we played good, football is cruel sometimes and today we are on that side”.
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Liverpool Await in the Quarterfinals for Casemiro’s Manchester United
Manchester United have now advanced to the FA Cup Quarterfinals thanks to a late winning goal by Casemiro at City Ground, but last season’s runners-up will not find it easy to go a step further this campaign around, since they are scheduled to face newly-crowned 2023/2024 EFL Cup champions Liverpool in the next round of the domestic cup competition. The archrivals of the Red Devils comfortably beat their opponents Southampton 3-0 in another all-Premier League affair in the FA Cup Fifth Round fixtures, and both juggernauts in the European club football and English top-flight football are set to face each other at Old Trafford mid-March 2024. (Click here to watch this intriguing matchup live.)
Also making into the FA Cup Quarterfinals are the other nemeses of Manchester United in Manchester City, and their result was an astonishing one, as Norwegian striker sensation Erling Haaland found the net five times on top of four assists by Kevin De Bruyne in the Cityzens’ 6-2 thrashing over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road a day prior of Manchester City’s trip to City Ground. Feel free to click on this link to check out the full match details on the Luton Town-Manchester City game in the 2023/2024 FA Cup Fifth Round last night: https://otherleague.com/soccer/luton-2-6-city-in-the-fa-cup-fifth-round/
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 28, 2024
