Man United beat Forest 3-2 to lock in third as Fernandes equals the Premier League assist record
Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 at Old Trafford on Sunday to lock in third place in the Premier League with a game to spare, and Bruno Fernandes turned the result into a personal milestone by matching the league's all-time single-season assist record.
Fernandes set up the winning goal in the 76th minute, slipping a ball across the face of goal for Bryan Mbeumo to convert. It was his 20th assist of the 2025-26 campaign, level with Thierry Henry's 2002-03 mark for Arsenal and Kevin De Bruyne's 2019-20 mark for Manchester City. One more before the season closes and the record is his outright.
Shaw sets the tone inside five minutes
United did not need long. Luke Shaw struck after five minutes, getting onto a half-cleared Fernandes delivery and finishing low past Matz Sels for his first Premier League goal of the season. Old Trafford settled quickly into the rhythm of a side that already knew it had nothing to chase and could just play.
Forest were level shortly before the hour. Elliot Anderson hung a cross to the back post, Morato attacked it cleanly, and the header went in to make it 1-1. For a few minutes the match opened up in a way Forest fans will replay this summer.
Cunha rebound, VAR, and Mbeumo's tap-in
The lead came back through Matheus Cunha, and the goal will dominate Forest's complaints. Mbeumo's shot was blocked, the rebound fell for Cunha, and he finished. Forest pointed at the build-up, where Mbeumo had appeared to bring the ball under control with an arm. VAR sent referee Michael Salisbury to the pitchside monitor; Salisbury judged the contact accidental and let the goal stand.
Cunha's restored lead held until the 76th minute. Fernandes worked the ball across the face of goal, Mbeumo arrived unmarked at the back post, and the tap-in put United 3-1 up. From the kick-off Forest pulled one back through Morgan Gibbs-White, a left-footed strike that briefly raised the temperature, but the goal arrived too late to change the outcome.
Third place sealed, one game left
The win is United's fifth in a row without defeat, and it mathematically confirms a third-place finish with one round of fixtures still to play. For a club whose season has run through a sacked manager in January and a winter of noise around the squad, locking down a Champions League berth before the final weekend counts as a quiet recovery. The opportunity in front of Fernandes next weekend is the loud part.
Sunday also gave Old Trafford a farewell. Casemiro played his last home game in a United shirt, the home crowd rose for him before kick-off, and he left to an ovation. The headline numbers belong to Fernandes and to the table, but the moment that travelled with the result was a midfielder who arrived in 2022 walking off his patch one last time.
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