Marcus Rashford scored one and created another as Manchester United overcame illness issues to beat Nottingham Forest and move to within a point of the top four.

Rashford converted a superb opener after 19 minutes when he was picked out by Christian Eriksen in a pre-planned corner routine, allowing the striker to exploit Forest’s failure to track his run by sweeping a first-time shot past Wayne Hennessey.

The England forward turned provider three minutes later, cutting in from the left wing and rolling a pass to Antony Martial, whose low finish from the edge of the area found the net after Hennessey failed to hold.

Forest’s keeper denied Antony, Martial and Rashford before substitute Fred profited from an excellent through ball from fellow Brazilian Casemiro to find the bottom corner three minutes from time.

Forest never recovered from that first-half double blow, although they did have a goal ruled out by VAR just before the break.

Steve Cooper’s men have not scored a league goal away from the City Ground since 20 August and remain second bottom.

For United, it completed a fourth successive victory in all competitions and underlined the theory that the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo will not have a negative effect on the remainder of their season.