NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – JANUARY 25: Wout Weghorst of Manchester United reacts during the Carabao Cup Semi Final 1st Leg match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at City Ground on January 25, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Wout Weghorst says it was ‘special’ to score his first Manchester United goal but admitted that the team were ‘not happy’ with their performance against Nottingham Forest.
United defeated Forest 3-0 at the City Ground on Wednesday night in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, with Erik ten Hag’s side now almost certain to reach the final at Wembley.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring just six minutes in but Forest responded well and came close to equalising several times before Weghorst opened his United account on the stroke of half-time.
The striker, signed on loan from Burnley, had failed to score in his first two appearances against Crystal Palace and Arsenal last week, but reacted quickest when Forest goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey could only parry away Antony’s powerful strike.
‘A great night for us. A great result and of course after this first match, victory is a really good chance and to get to the final,’ Weghorst told Sky Sports after the game.
‘It’s always special and you want to score goals. You prefer to have this first one as quick as possible so I was really happy.
‘I think it was an important moment also. It gave us a good feeling at the break.
‘We started well and had a great goal. We didn’t have the control like we wanted it and made it too much up and down after.
‘We were lucky their goal was disallowed then to make it 2-0 before half-time was important. I just turned to the goal hoping for a rebound and it came exactly like this. It was nice.
‘We were not happy with the way we had played in the first half, we wanted more control. That’s something we did in the second half and with the 3-0 at the end it made it even better.
‘It’s a great result for us tonight, let’s finish it next week.’
Weghorst was subbed off in the 85th minute and just minutes later his replacement Anthony Elanga set up Bruno Fernandes for United’s third goal.
The 30-year-old Dutch international will be hoping to add to his goal tally in the Red Devils’ next game on Saturday, when they host Reading in the FA Cup fourth round.
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Weghorst netted against Forest in the Carabao Cup semi-final win.
