- Nasima Akter
Manchester United Fan Attempts Pitch Invasion and Fails
During the semi-final match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest for the Carabao Cup, a fan tried to invade the pitch. The fan ended up failing and was escorted off the grounds.
The incident happened during a non-penalty call on Wout Weghorst. Since the TV cameras switched to replays, the fan’s attempted invasion did not get caught on camera. TalkSPORT commentator Sam Matterface, however, informed fans what was happening at the side of the pitch.
“He has his face covered which is probably why when he jumped over the hoardings he tripped over his own feet and ended up falling flat on his face,” he said. Pictures later emerged of the individual being escorted off the pitch by stewards, with him wearing a Manchester United beanie hat and Marcus Rashford scarf.
So far, there are no details confirmed on who the fan was nor the reasons behind his attempted pitch invasion.
The attempt, however, is not the first time an incident involving a Manchester United fan occurred. In the last match between United and Forest at the City Ground, a group of fans fell onto the pitch after the advertising hoardings collapsed.
This pitch invasion, though failed is also not the first time that the Carabao Cup (EFL Cup) has faced a similar incident. When Crawley Town won against Fulham in the 2022 EFL Cup in August, several fans entered the pitch to celebrate the victory.
With the rise of pitch invasions, the Premier League and EFL have implemented new rules that say pitch invaders will receive an automatic club ban.
After the fan was escorted off the grounds, the game resumed as usual, and United beat Nottingham Forest 2-0. They will now face the Newcastle Club for the Carabao Cup Finals at Wembley Stadium on February 26.
While Manchester United had won the match, club coach Erik ten Hag was not fully happy with the team’s performance. In one interview, the coach stated, “You see from the first half that we have quite a long way to go but I thought it was quite professional.”
“We got a clean sheet but I’m critical, and I see that we allowed them two chances, and if they score them, they’re back in the game. We have to avoid that.”
”But in the second half, I was much more happy. When you can bring those players [Martial, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho] from the great bench but I think already in the second half, in general, was a much higher tempo,” he added.
For this year’s EFL CUP (which is known as Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons), Manchester United has won all the matches they have played. Newcastle, meanwhile, also had no losses in the competition.
The EFL CUP is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Before this year, the United Club had won the competition five times.
Since the EFL Cup Finals will be happening the same day as Man Utd's Premier League fixture at home against Brentford, the latter match will be postponed. The new date for that match is yet to be determined.
