Alan Shearer applauded Nottingham Forest's ability to respond on their second trip to Manchester in the space of four days, as they left Old Trafford having pulled off an impressive and deserving 3-2 victory over Manchester United on Saturday evening.
Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood all found the net to ensure Forest swiftly returned to winning ways and they put the disappointment of recent defeats to Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle behind them and Shearer was really taken by the manner of their performance as a collective.
Having opened the scoring, Forest were then briefly on the back foot after Rasmus Hoijland's equaliser, but they quickly restored and then extended their advantage at the beginning of the second half - a lead which proved unassailable despite Bruno Fernandes' best efforts. Shearer was impressed by the unifying display laced with quality produced at the key moments.
"They were brilliant," Shearer told MOTD. "It was a really good recovery from what happened to them in midweek. They had three shots on target and they had three goals, but everything about them was outstanding. They were organised, their ability, their togetherness when they had to stick together - they were just really impressive.
"The good thing is that they've probably seen how weak Man United are at set pieces - they conceded two in the week - you get one after two minutes and this is what happens. Milenkovic wants it more than Martinez and he bullies them.
"Then there was the press, the way they commit men forward. Yes the keeper [Onana] should save [Gibbs-White's goal] but the impressive thing was how many men they had forward. The performance was typified when they won the ball on the edge of their own box, they have men in behind the ball to defend and work but the three I have highlighted - Wood, Jota Silva and Gibbs-White - within seconds are in the other box and get the goal.
"The way they keep the pressure on, they win the ball back, they keep it alive and when you have someone in form, you get the ball in the box. Then, they come under the cosh because they concede a goal, they have to defend, put bodies on the line, they had to stick together. It's why Forest are where they are in the league. They're playing well, full of confidence and they have a striker in the form of his life in Chris Wood."
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