Manchester United take a comfortable 3-0 lead into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
First half goals from Marcus Rashford and Wout Weghorst, one in the first five minutes and the other just before the end of the half, helped give United a comfortable lead in this tie.
Then, just before the end, Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 to The Red Devils and Erik Ten Hag's men now look like they have one foot in the final.
Forest will be disappointed with their performance on the night and manager Steve Cooper will have a big job on his hands to help prepare his side for the second leg next Wednesday.
Story of the Match
Both managers showed that they were taking this semi-final seriously by making just a few changes each to the sides that played in the Premier League at the weekend.
Forest manager Steve Cooper made the most of not having to think about a game this weekend by making just four changes for this semi-final. Willy Boly, Ryan Yates, Orel Mangala and Chris Wood were all replaced by Sam Surridge, Scott McKenna, Danilo and Gustavo Scarpa.
Meanwhile, Man United manager Eric Ten Hag made just three changes to the side that lost 3-2 in the dying minutes away at Arsenal on Sunday. Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia and Casemiro, who missed the Arsenal game through suspension, all came back into the side replacing Raphael Varane, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw.
The City Ground was bouncing as it welcomed both teams out onto the pitch. However, it did not seem to help the hosts as Forest started sluggishly and they looked particularly shaky at the back in the opening minutes.
And United made the hosts pay after just five minutes. Rashford, one of the most in-form players in England this season, picked the ball up deep in his own half from a throw-in, and a magnificent solo run saw him jinx inside past Joe Worrall and his shot beat Wayne Hennessey at the near post.
The away sides lead could have doubled soon after as Anthony flashed a shot wide from the right just two minutes later. That was the first of a number of chances Anthony had in the first half that he could not convert.
After a shaky opening quarter of an hour, Forest settled into the game and created a few chances of their own. United also started to get a little sloppy after their blistering start.
It looked like Forest had equalised halfway through the first half when a loose pass on the edge of the Forest box saw Morgan Gibbs-White launch a counter-attack through the centre of the pitch. He slipped in Sam Surridge who finished neatly past David De Gea in the United goal but VAR showed that the knee of Surridge of offside and disallowed the goal.
A poor United corner just before the half an hour mark saw Forest counter-attack again and Brennan Johnson beat Aaron Wan-Bissaka to the ball but took an early shot instead of squaring the ball and it was a comfortable save for De Gea.
Johnson again had another chance just a few minutes later as he danced past two defenders but blazed his shot over the bar.
Almost immediately after that, Anthony had a brilliant chance to score as he was played in one-on-one but hit his shot was straight at Hennessey.
Weghorst opens his account
After a relentless first half an hour, it settled down a bit as the game approached half time. Both teams still looked threatening but didn't create many clear chances.
But just before half-time, Forest were hit with a sucker punch. Anthony had a shot from just outside the box that Hennessey could only punch out and Wout Weghorst was on hand to tap home into the empty net and score his first United goal and make it 2-0.
Forest started the second half brightly as the looked for a way back into the game. Within the first minute they had won a corner which showed their intent.
However, they still could not prevent The Red Devils from creating threatening chances of their own.
Six minutes into the second half and Christian Eriksen had a curling shot crash off the bar. Replays showed that a faint touch by Hennessey touched the goal bound shot onto the woodwork.
A blow to the ribs saw an early end to the evening for Rashford as Ten Hag ensured that no risks were taken and replaced him with Alejandro Garnacho.
Steve Cooper also made three changes at different points around the hour mark. These changes include an appearance for former United man Jesse Lingard who replaced Surridge.
The game had a much slower pace to it in the second half and was a lot less end-to-end.
The hosts job was made a lot harder with 20 minutes to go when attacking midfielder Gibbs-White, who had been one of their best players on the night, had to be taken off with an injury.
Forest struggled to create anything of note after Gibbs-White's departure and the game ebbed away towards the full time whistle.
With two minutes to go until the clock hit 90, United grabbed a third to nearly guarantee they had done enough in this first leg to progress to the final.
Fernandes played a forward pass into Facundo Pellistri and the ball fell to Elanga who played the ball into Fernandes and he smashed the ball into the bottom corner to ensure a 3-0 win.
Player of the Match - Bruno Fernandes
Fernandes played well all night popping up in all areas of the pitch and was a real creative spark in the centre of the pitch.
Bruno deserved his goal late on and it capped off an impressive performance from the attacking midfielder.