Manchester United have spoken to Alejandro Garnacho after the winger liked social media posts criticising manager Erik ten Hag over his handling of the player.

The Argentina international, taken off at half-time in their 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Saturday, liked two messages on X (formerly Twitter), by United fan and YouTuber Mark Goldbridge.

One post accused Ten Hag of “throwing (Garnacho) under the bus” because of comments the United boss made about the 19-year-old’s performance.

The other said Garnacho “had a poor first half but taking him off at halftime and holding him up as the problem is a joke.”

Garnacho swiftly “unliked” both messages, an action the club believes shows contrition, and a United source told the PA news agency the matter had been dealt with internally.

The teenager has become a key player for United this season, scoring nine goals and providing four assists in 42 games.

The incident follows one in September when Jadon Sancho said on X that he had been made a “scapegoat” after being left out of the squad for the Arsenal match, with Ten Hag saying he had trained poorly. Sancho said he would “not allow people saying things that (are) completely untrue”, interpreted as accusing Ten Hag of misrepresenting reasons why he was not on the side.

The 24-year-old was banished from the first team before being loaned to Borussia Dortmund in January.

Ten Hag’s position has come under renewed pressure after the draw against Bournemouth, which left United seventh in the Premier League table, 13 points off the top four.

The FA Cup is the only silverware that United can win this season — they take on second-tier side Coventry in the semi-final at Wembley on Sunday

Nottingham Forest’s battle for survival is threatening to go down to the wire as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side prepare for a crunch clash this weekend.

The Reds have five games left to beat the drop, starting with a trip to face relegation rivals Everton on Sunday. They will go into that match at Goodison Park on the back of a frustrating 2-2 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Nuno will face some big decisions when it comes to his team selection against the Toffees with key stars Taiwo Awoniyi, Anthony Elanga and Willy Boly all out injured.

Nigerian striker Awoniyi, who is out with a thigh injury, has already missed a chunk of the season after sustaining a groin surgery in a bid to solve a longstanding problem

He made his comeback in January but Nuno had talked about managing him carefully as he struggled to return to full sharpness.

He suffered a problem in the build-up to the draw with Luton Town, which was due to rule him out for a few weeks. The initial diagnosis suggested it was difficult to put an exact timeframe on how long he could be out for, but it was believed he could be absent from anywhere between two to five weeks.

He underwent a scan last week, which Forest hoped would provide clarity on when the striker could return.

However, Nuno remains optimistic his star striker will still have a part to play in the run-in.

“He is starting his individual programme,” Nuno said last Thursday. “I don’t have an exact timeline for when he is going to return but it is closer. Hopefully he can still help us this season.”