PL Collection: United's best matches against Forest

Forest are a club famed for their success under Brian Clough, as they won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980.

Founding members of the Premier League in 1992, Forest return to the division next season after an absence of more than 20 years, following their 1999 relegation.

In the Premier League, United have only faced Forest on 10 occasions, and have a favourable record against the newly promoted side, winning seven times and only losing once.

There has never been a 0-0 stalemate between the two sides in the Premier League, and all four of the clashes we have selected from the Premier League Collection feature massive scorelines.

The first fixture on our list is the Old Trafford clash between the sides in 1996, where United scored five goals past the East Midlands outfit on our way to a third Premier League title.

UNITED 5 FOREST 0 (1995/96)

Alex Ferguson’s side entered our penultimate fixture of the 1995/96 season needing a win to edge closer to beating Newcastle United to the Premier League title, and we blew Forest away with a superb display. Paul Scholes and David Beckham got on the scoresheet before half-time, and Beckham added his second and United’s third just after the restart. Ryan Giggs got in on the act before Eric Cantona put the icing on the cake with an injury-time effort. A five-star display from the eventual champions.

UNITED 4 FOREST 1 (1996/97)

We began the 1996/97 season in the same vein as the season before. and put in another commanding performance against Forest at Old Trafford on matchday six. The visitors had taken an early lead through Alf-Inge Haaland, but the advantage was soon overturned courtesy of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s strike and Giggs’s back-post header. The second half was keenly contested before Cantona’s stunning drive from outside the box and his 90th-minute penalty put the result firmly beyond any doubt.

FOREST 0 UNITED 4 (1996/97)

Later in the same season, United visited the City Ground and completed the league double over Forest. Class of ’92 graduates Beckham and Nicky Butt gave us a two-goal lead over the hosts at half-time with two great strikes from outside the box. After the break, Solskjaer headed home the rebound after Cantona produced some unbelievable skill before his effort struck the crossbar. Andy Cole, who came off the bench following more than 11 weeks out through injury, appeared back to his best as he wriggled past three defenders and curled a fourth into the far corner to score on his return to his home city.

FOREST 1 UNITED 8 (1998/99)

The final selection on the list is our biggest recorded win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. We travelled to the Midlands midway through our 1998/99 Treble season and faced a struggling Forest side, managed by former United boss Ron Atkinson, who were ultimately relegated that year. The hosts cancelled out Dwight Yorke’s second-minute opener four minutes later and looked to be capable of putting up a good fight against a strong United side. However, Cole restored our lead just a minute later with a powerful run and finish. Cole added his second, and United’s third, after 50 minutes before Yorke bagged his second on 67 minutes. Substitute Solskjaer remarkably scored four goals in the final 10 minutes of this fixture to hammer the hosts and lay down a marker of United’s title credentials. We ultimately went on to win the Premier League and went beyond that to achieve our historic Treble. Forest, on the other hand, went down and failed to return to the Premier League until this year, helped by our young loanee James Garner.

UNITED v FOREST: PL RECORD

Games played: 10
United wins: 7
Draws: 2
Forest wins: 1
United goals: 31
Forest goals: 6
Top scorer: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (6)