began the month of February on top of the Premier League by one point after beating Charlton Athletic 1–0 away, while then-league leaders Chelsea lost away to Arsenal by the same margin. Another 1–0 win over Derby County in mid-week extended United's lead to four points going into the weekend of 6 February 1999. Despite a 1–0 win away to Everton on 30 January – their first win since August 1998 – Nottingham Forest went into the weekend rooted to the bottom of the table, with just three wins to their name all season and only 16 points, 31 behind their opponents. Ron Atkinson had replaced Dave Bassett as Forest manager the previous month, and the United clash was to be his third match at the Forest helm. Before the match, the two teams had met 104 times in competitive matches, with Manchester United winning 47 and Nottingham Forest winning 33. The two teams had a similar record in the league, with Manchester United leading 43–29 in terms of wins. The two clubs had regularly been in the race for domestic honours from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, although Forest had declined in the 1990s and been relegated from the Premier League in both 1993 and 1997, winning promotion at the first attempt afterwards on both occasions, but were now in danger of a third relegation in seven seasons. United, on the other hand, had won four of the first six Premier League titles and were now challenging for a fifth title in seven. They also met in the 1992 Football League Cup Final, which Manchester United won 1–0 via a Brian McClair goal. Nottingham Forest's biggest home win against Manchester United came on 2 May 1990, when they won 4–0 in front of 21,186 fans at the City Ground, while Manchester United's biggest win at Nottingham Forest was a 5–1 victory on 12 December 1959 in front of 31,666 spectators.
Match
Summary
opened the scoring for Manchester United in the second minute, turning home Paul Scholes' right-wing cross after David Beckham's corner from the left had evaded everyone in the penalty area. Alan Rogers equalised five minutes later after good interplay with Jean-Claude Darcheville, only for Andy Cole to restore United's lead less than a minute later; the English forward was put through by a long ball from the back by Jaap Stam, before rounding Forest goalkeeperDave Beasant to hit a shot from a narrow angle that defender Jon Olav Hjelde was unable to keep out. Shambolic defending in the second half allowed Cole and Yorke to add one more each, before Yorke was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær up front in the 72nd minute. With 10 minutes left on the clock, David Beckham spotted an overlapping right-wing run from Gary Neville, and the England full-back played the ball across the face of the goal area. The ball came to Solskjær on the far side of the goal, where he was able to side-foot home from two yards. Solskjær got his second in the 88th minute after he beat the offside trap to be played in by Beckham. As Beasant advanced to narrow the angle, Solskjær's attempted chip was stopped by the Forest 'keeper. However, the ball broke back to Solskjær, who took the ball round Beasant before hitting the ball into the top-right corner of the goal from the right side of the penalty area. As the game entered its closing stages, Paul Scholes played a one-two with Jesper Blomqvist and then hit a no-look pass to Solskjær. The Norwegian forward took one touch with his left foot to control the ball and then hit a right-footed volley past Beasant for his hat-trick. Solskjær's fourth goal – and United's eighth – came in injury time at the end of the second half; Nicky Butt broke into the Nottingham Forest penalty area and played the ball back across the goal to Paul Scholes. Scholes mis-cued his shot, but the ball came to Solskjær, who side-footed it past the onrushing Beasant. Solskjær later claimed that he had not expected to come on once United went 4–1 up. Nevertheless, United manager Alex Ferguson told the Norwegian to warm up so that he could come on in place of Yorke. As Solskjær was about to come on, United first team coach Jimmy Ryan advised him to play conservatively and pass the ball around, advice of which Solskjær took little heed. Only ten shots in the match were on target by either team - nine of these were goals. This is a record in the Premier League for highest shots on target to goals ratio.
Match details
Statistics
Post-match
Forest manager Ron Atkinson angered a number of Forest fans following the defeat when he stated in an interview after the game that his team had given the fans a "nine-goal thriller". Manchester United went on to win the Premier League with 79 points, one point ahead of second-placed Arsenal. Forest's relegation was confirmed on 24 April with a 2–0 defeat at Atkinson's old club Aston Villa. He announced his resignation as manager within hours of the final whistle, with effect from the final game of the league season on 16 May, and said that he would be retiring from football management. Forest finished bottom of the League with just 30 points.
