The Red Devils were stunningly 2-0 down after just four minutes on Saturday, as Forest pair Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly did the damage. Although United eventually picked up all three points thanks to goals from Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, Ten Hag was still unhappy when his discussed his side’s performance post-match.
“[It was a] horror start, but the character of the team was brilliant,” the Dutchman, who now boasts a record of 31 home games unbeaten, told Match of the Day. “We stayed so calm and so composed. We stuck to our belief, stuck to our plan, played some good football and scored three good goals. It was a great comeback.
“With all respect to Forest, we can’t allow them [those goals]. They were easy give-aways. It’s crazy, but sometimes games go like this. As I said, we stayed calm.”
Ten Hag went on to say of his team: “It’s a marker, absolutely. We’ve seen this team can bounce back. If you have such a start, you need to get over it. It’s not easy, but compliments to the team. We have the personality. In certain moments we can definitely improve, but in general this team has the character to bounce back all the time.”
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The Red Devils boss also hit out at Forest’s time-wasting tactics which he felt the officials were complicit in. “The rule is not right,” Ten Hag claimed. “The team was delaying from the start and they were getting rewarded for it.”
Opposite number Steve Cooper wasn’t happy with the officials either. The visitors had captain Joe Worrall sent off via a straight red card – having brought down Fernandes as the last man back – and United’s winner came from a hotly-debated penalty won by Marcus Rashford following a pitch-side VAR check by referee Stuart Attwell.
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“The modern referees are top ones – they really take their time over things,” Cooper explained. “It was the opposite today. I’d love to talk more and say what I really think, but I can’t do that.”
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