Match Report

Manchester Utd 3 v 0 Nottingham Forest

Well I'm sorry to all of you around the world who rely on this report to hear how Forest have done.

This is not the sort of Christmas present we wanted to send you, although I don't expect anyone was optimistic about Forest's chances at Man Utd.

Forest were suffering from illness and suspension, but Man Utd were also under strength without Yorke or Cole.

Having said that, Forest had the better of the first half, battling hard against a below par Man Utd.

The first goal came against the run of play in the 29th min. Beasant had just made one save, but conceded the corner.

Beckham's cross in found Johnsen who put the ball easily past Beasant. Shipperley up front on his own, looked as if he wanted to show that he should have a regular place.

Forest had looked positive and where unlucky to go in a goal down and at this stage looked like they may get a result from the game.

The second half saw Forest looking less and less confident. The second goal came on 65 minutes, again from Johnsen, with the third coming just two minutes later.

Giggs, unmarked chipped the ball over Beasant and the match was all but over. 17 year old Chris Doig a Forest YTS, called from his home in Scotland for a place on the bench, made a dream first appearance in the Premiership when Chettle went off injured.

For those of you who want to know his squad number is 12. A reluctant Stone was substituted for Hodges.

Another statistic that is one to give concern is that Forest did not have a shot on goal. So Forest equal the one record least wanted, going 16 games without a win. We can only hope for a miracle in the New Year.

The press have been speculating over the Christmas period with Pierre van Hooijdonk being linked with Derby County and a swap deal for Sturridge or Forest accepting the Ł4.5m bid from Leeds Utd. I'm sure that this story will develop over the next week.

Nottingham Forest		26th December 1998 Score 0 - 3 Venue: Old Trafford Attendance: 55,216 Referee: Jeff Winter Goal 1: Johnsen (29mins) Goal 2: Johnsen (59mins) Goal 3: Giggs (61mins)	Manchester Utd

	Beasant		Schmeical
	Louis-Jean		P.Neville
	Chettle		Irwin
	Armstrong		Berg
	Rogers		Johnsen
	Stone		Keane
	Johnson		Butt
	Bart-Williams		Beckham
	Quashie		Giggs
	Freedman		Sherringham
	Shipperley		Scholes
Substitutes			Substitutes
	Doig		Blomqvist
	Darcheville		v der Gouw
	Bonalair		Solskjaer
	Hodges		Brown
	Crossley		Greening
© Nottingham Forest 1998 Manchester Utd 3 v 0 Nottingham Forest Well I'm sorry to all of you around the world who rely on this report to hear how Forest have done. This is not the sort of Christmas present we wanted to send you, although I don't expect anyone was optimistic about Forest's chances at Man Utd. Forest were suffering from illness and suspension, but Man Utd were also under strength without Yorke or Cole. Having said that, Forest had the better of the first half, battling hard against a below par Man Utd. The first goal came against the run of play in the 29th min. Beasant had just made one save, but conceded the corner. Beckham's cross in found Johnsen who put the ball easily past Beasant. Shipperley up front on his own, looked as if he wanted to show that he should have a regular place. Forest had looked positive and where unlucky to go in a goal down and at this stage looked like they may get a result from the game. The second half saw Forest looking less and less confident. The second goal came on 65 minutes, again from Johnsen, with the third coming just two minutes later. Giggs, unmarked chipped the ball over Beasant and the match was all but over. 17 year old Chris Doig a Forest YTS, called from his home in Scotland for a place on the bench, made a dream first appearance in the Premiership when Chettle went off injured. For those of you who want to know his squad number is 12. A reluctant Stone was substituted for Hodges. Another statistic that is one to give concern is that Forest did not have a shot on goal. So Forest equal the one record least wanted, going 16 games without a win. We can only hope for a miracle in the New Year. The press have been speculating over the Christmas period with Pierre van Hooijdonk being linked with Derby County and a swap deal for Sturridge or Forest accepting the Ł4.5m bid from Leeds Utd. I'm sure that this story will develop over the next week.