Nuno Espirito Santo says he is ‘proud of these moments’, after seeing his Nottingham Forest side secure their first win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in 30 years.
The Forest head coach has now overseen wins against Liverpool at Anfield and away at United this season, after goals from Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood helped to defeat Ruben Amorim’s side 3-2.
It was a result that left Forest sitting fifth in the Premier League table, ten points behind leaders Liverpool, who they beat 1-0 in September.
Nuno says he and his players are working hard to build something together and deserve to celebrate, but that he is already planning for the visit of Aston Villa next weekend.
“It means a lot for us as a club. It means a lot for the club. This is a huge club, which has been away from special moments like this for a long time,” said Nuno. “We should celebrate and be proud of these moments.
“Me? I think about Aston Villa and starting to prepare for that game. But I am very proud to be part of this group, to work with these players and this squad. We are trying to do something together; we are trying to build something nice.”
Rasmus Hojlund had cancelled out Milenkovic’s early header, but Gibbs-White’s low shot and Wood’s looping header put 3-1 up. Bruno Fernandes made it 3-2 in the 61st minute, but Forest held on for a memorable win.
“We were brave. Particularly at the start of the second half, it was great to see the belief of the players, going forward and recovering the ball, against a fantastic team in United.
“The quality of their players, you know that anything can happen. (Bruno) Fernandes showed what he can do with a fantastic strike and we held on until the end, as well as we could. It was about togetherness and hard work. And the unity of the players was special today.”
It was Wood’s tenth goal of the campaign and, more significantly, his 25th for the club — making him Forest’s Premier League top goal scorer, ahead of Bryan Roy (24).
“It is his birthday as well,” said Nuno. “He is 33-years-old today. We are very happy to have Chris with us. He is an example for the young lads to follow — it is never too late to achieve big things in football. He is a good example to everyone and we are very happy to have him.”
Forest are in talks with Wood over a new contract, with his current deal set to expire in the summer.
(Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
