Nottingham Forest F.C. 1–8 Manchester United F.C.

Nottingham Forest 1–8 Manchester United

Event	1998–99 FA Premier League
Nottingham Forest Manchester United 1 8
Date	6 February 1999
Venue	City Ground, Nottingham
Referee	Paul Alcock (Kent)
Attendance	30,025

The 1998–99 season match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground took place on 6 February 1999. Manchester United won the match 8–1, thereby recording the largest away win in the history of the Premier League. Substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored four of Manchester United's eight goals, setting a record for the most goals scored by a substitute in one match.

Background

Manchester United began the month of February on top of the Premier League by one point after beating Charlton Athletic 1–0 away, while then-league leaders Chelsea lost away to Arsenal by the same margin. Another 1–0 win over Derby County in mid-week extended United's lead to four points going into the weekend of 6 February 1999.

Despite a 1–0 win away to Everton on 30 January – their first win of 1999 – Nottingham Forest went into the weekend rooted to the bottom of the table, with just three wins to their name all season and only 16 points, 31 behind their opponents.

Before the match, the two teams had met 104 times in competitive matches, with Manchester United winning 47 and Nottingham Forest winning 33. The two teams had a similar record in the league, with Manchester United leading 43–29 in terms of wins. They also met in the 1992 Football League Cup Final, which Manchester United won 1–0 via a Brian McClair goal. Nottingham Forest's biggest home win against Manchester United came on 2 May 1990, when they won 4–0 in front of 21,186 fans at the City Ground, while Manchester United's biggest win at Nottingham Forest was a 5–1 victory on 12 December 1959 in front of 31,666 spectators.^[1]

Match

Summary

Dwight Yorke opened the scoring for Manchester United in the second minute, turning home Paul Scholes' right-wing cross after David Beckham's corner from the left had evaded everyone in the penalty area. Alan Rogers equalised five minutes later after good interplay with Jean-Claude Darcheville, only for Andy Cole to restore United's lead less than a minute later; the English forward was put through by a long ball from the back by Jaap Stam, rounded Forest goalkeeper Dave Beasant and hit a shot from a narrow angle that defender Jon Olav Hjelde was unable to keep out.

Shambolic defending in the second half allowed Cole and Yorke to add one more each, before Yorke was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær up front in the 72nd minute. With 10 minutes left on the clock, David Beckham spotted an overlapping right-wing run from Gary Neville, and the England full-back played the ball across the face of the goal area. The ball came to Solskjær on the far side of the goal, where he was able to side-foot home from two yards. Solskjær got his second in the 88th minute after he beat the offside trap to be played in by Beckham. As Beasant advanced to narrow the angle, Solskjær's attempted chip was stopped by the Forest 'keeper. However, the ball broke back to Solskjær, who took the ball round Beasant before hitting the ball into the top-right corner of the goal from the right side of the penalty area. As the game entered its closing stages, Paul Scholes played a one-two with Jesper Blomqvist and then hit a no-look pass to Solskjær. The Norwegian forward took one touch with his left foot to control the ball and then hit a right-footed volley past Beasant for his hat-trick. Solskjær's fourth goal – and United's eighth – came in injury time at the end of the second half; Nicky Butt broke into the Nottingham Forest penalty area and played the ball back across the goal to Paul Scholes. Scholes mis-cued his shot, but the ball came to Solskjær, who side-footed it past the onrushing Beasant.

Solskjær later claimed that he had not expected to come on once United went 4–1 up. Nevertheless, United manager Alex Ferguson told the Norwegian to warm up so that he could come on in place of Yorke. As Solskjær was about to come on, United first team coach Jimmy Ryan advised him to play conservatively and pass the ball around, advice of which Solskjær took little heed.

Only ten shots in the match were on target by either team - nine of these were goals. This is a record in the Premier League for highest shots on target to goals ratio (90%).^{[citation needed]}

Match details

6 February 1999	Nottingham Forest	1 – 8	Manchester United	City Ground, Nottingham Attendance: 30,025 Referee: Paul Alcock (Kent)
	Rogers  6'		Yorke  2', 67' Cole  7', 50' Solskjær  80', 88', 90', 90'

Nottingham Forest

Manchester United

NOTTINGHAM FOREST: GK 1 Dave Beasant RB 30 John Harkes CB 15 Craig Armstrong 84' CB 6 Jon Olav Hjelde LB 3 Alan Rogers RM 7 Steve Stone CM 20 Carlton Palmer CM 10 Andy Johnson LM 8 Scot Gemmill 57' CF 40 Pierre van Hooijdonk CF 19 Jean-Claude Darcheville 26' Substitutes: GK 13 Mark Crossley DF 25 Jesper Mattsson 57' MF 11 Chris Bart-Williams MF 31 Hugo Porfírio 79' 74' FW 14 Dougie Freedman 26' Manager: Ron Atkinson

MANCHESTER UNITED: GK 1 Peter Schmeichel RB 2 Gary Neville CB 5 Ronny Johnsen CB 6 Jaap Stam LB 12 Phil Neville 81' RM 7 David Beckham CM 18 Paul Scholes CM 16 Roy Keane (c) 37' 72' LM 15 Jesper Blomqvist 86' CF 19 Dwight Yorke 72' CF 9 Andy Cole Substitutes: GK 17 Raimond van der Gouw DF 4 David May DF 13 John Curtis 72' MF 8 Nicky Butt 86' FW 20 Ole Gunnar Solskjær 72' Manager: Alex Ferguson

MATCH RULES 90 minutes. No extra time or penalties. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

	Nottingham Forest	Manchester United
Goals scored	1	8
Shots on target	2	8
Shots off target	4	4
Hit woodwork	1	1
Corner kicks	4	7
Yellow cards	1	2
Red cards	0	0

References

1. ^ Endlar, Andrew. "United versus Nottingham Forest". StretfordEnd.co.uk. http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/opponents/forest.html. Retrieved 1 August 2009.