Manchester United seal third place in Premier League 2025-26 season
What's the story
Manchester United secured a thrilling 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, finishing third in the Premier League 2025-26 season. The match saw Luke Shaw, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo score for United while Morato and Morgan Gibbs-White found the net for Forest. United captain Bruno Fernandes equaled the Premier League assists record with his 20th assist of the season during this match.
Record equalized
Fernandes equals PL assists record
Fernandes matched Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne by assisting 20 goals in a Premier League season. The record-equalling moment came when he assisted Mbeumo, who finally converted his fourth big chance of the game. Fernandes nearly broke the record in the dying moments but Diogo Dalot's shot hit the post after being set up by him. Patrick Dorgu too saw his shot get saved by Mats Sels as Fernandes will now need to wait for the outright assists record.
Match highlights
Shaw gives United early lead; Morato equalizes
The match started on a high note for United as Shaw scored in the sixth minute. However, Mbeumo missed a golden opportunity to double the lead when he hit the near post from a tight angle. He also missed another chance just after half-time, which allowed Forest to equalize through Morato's header from an Elliot Anderson cross.
Goal controversy
Controversial VAR decision sparks debate during Nottingham Forest clash
Cunha restored United's lead with a controversial goal that came after Mbeumo's shot hit his arm. Diogo Dalot's cross for Mbeumo led to a disputed goal after the Cameroon forward appeared to control the ball with his arm before scoring. Despite protests from both sets of fans over the time taken to review the decision. Despite VAR reviewing the incident, referee Michael Salisbury stood by his original decision and awarded the goal.
Late drama
Mbeumo makes it 3-1 before Gibbs-White spices things up
Fernandes then assisted Mbeumo again, who diverted the ball into the net for United's third goal, ending his 11-game goalless run in style. However, Gibbs-White scored from another Anderson cross, keeping the contest close in the final stages. United's Joshua Zirkzee was denied by Sels after Dalot had hit the woodwork. Despite these late attempts from Forest, United held on for a satisfying win in front of their home fans for the last time this season.
Do you know?
Unbeaten in 400 league games when leading at half-time
As per Opta, Manchester United are now unbeaten in each of their last 400 home league games in which they have led at half-time (W365 D35), a run which began in August 1984.
Fernandes
Fernandes gets to 71 assists in the Premier League
Fernandes now owns 20 Premier League assists this season from 34 appearances (G8). As mentioned above, he equaled the record for most assists in a Premier League season (20), levelling Henry in 2002-03 and De Bruyne in 2019-20. Overall, Fernandes has raced to 71 assists in the Premier League (G70) from 229 appearances.
Information
Luke Shaw scores a rare goal for the Red Devils
Making his 324th appearance for Man United, Shaw now has 5 goals to his name. Four of them have come in the Premier League. The last time he scored a goal for the club was in 2022-23 season.
Duo
Cunha and Mbeumo get to 10 PL goals this season
Former Wolves man Cunha scored his 39th Premier League goal in what was his 115th appearance. Since joining the Red Devils last summer, he now has 10 Premier League goals this season from 33 appearances (A2). Former Brentford ace Mbeumo has amassed 52 goals in the Premier League from 168 appearances. Since joining the Red Devils last summer, he now has 10 Premier League goals this season from 32 appearances (A3).
Forest
Key Premier League numbers for Forest duo Anderson and Gibbs-White
Forest midfielder Anderson made two assists in this contest. From 118 Premier League games, he now owns 13 assists (G6). In the ongoing season, Anderson has 4 goals and 4 assists from 37 matches. Gibbs-White netted his 32nd Premier League goal in what was his 190th appearance. From 36 matches this season, the Englishman has netted 14 goals (A2).
Match stats
A look at the match stats
United had 29 attempts with 8 shots on target. Their xG was 4.19. The home team hit the woodwork twice. On the other hand, Forest had an xG of 1.75. They had 4 shots on target from 11 attempts. Forest had 51.3% ball possession to United's 48.7%. In terms of big chances created, United outclassed Forest 4-2. United had 45 touches in the opposition box compared to Forest's 24.
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United seal third place: A look at the points table
From 37 games, United claimed their 19th win of the season. United have raced to 68 points with their goal difference being +16. Notably, they have conceded 50 goals this season. Forest remain 16th with 43 points. This was their 16th defeat of the season.
Twitter Post
Another win!
A whole lot of green since Michael Carrick took charge at @ManUtd 🟢 pic.twitter.com/0XCg15Ck8T
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 17, 2026