Michael Carrick's side prevailed in a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford which certainly had an end-of-season feel from start to finish, with very little on the line.
But for those of a Forest persuasion, it was perhaps just as well they had already secured Premier League safety.
In a rare example of the referee's call being upheld, Forest players were incensed that the recommendation from Video Assistant Referee Matt Donohue to review and disallow Cunha's strike due to an accidental handball from Bryan Mbeumo in the build-up was not upheld.
The on-field match official deemed the touch from Mbeumo's arm was not sufficient to disallow the goal.
The controversial incident came in the 55th minute, just after defender Morato had cancelled out Luke Shaw's early opener for the hosts.
Cameroon international Mbeumo appeared to catch the ball in the armpit area before his shot took two deflections before arriving at the feet of Cunha, who calmly slotted his finish into the bottom corner.
The United celebrations were muted, with several of Cunha's team-mates assuming the goal would be ruled out as the Forest players fumed at the match official.
Pereira: We need meeting to discuss handball law
Forest manager Vitor Pereira gestured from the dug-out that Mbeumo had clearly controlled the ball by using his arm, and the Portuguese looked relieved when the referee was called to the side of the pitch to review the goal.
Despite it appearing like Mbeumo had wedged the ball between his arm and body, and a three-minute review from VAR, Salisbury stuck with his original decision, having been asked to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
When explaining the decision, Salisbury announced to the crowd at Old Trafford: "After review, the decision of goal stands because the handball offence was accidental. Therefore, the final decision is goal.”
Speaking after the game, Pereira said on the handball controversy: "In the end, this is the doubt we have at this moment in the Premier League about these decisions. We don't know what is handball or not. The blocks in the box, we don't know when is foul or not.
"It's important to have a meeting with everybody and try to understand the rules, the decisions. Because I think everybody, all the managers at this moment, have doubts about some decisions.
"If the game today was decided in this way, and we needed the points to be safe – big problem."
United made the most of their reprieve as Bruno Fernandes equalled the all-time Premier League record with his 20th assist of the season by setting up Mbeumo to make it 3-1 before Morgan Gibbs-White pulled one back for the visitors.
Diogo Dalot struck the post late on before Matz Sels kept out Joshua Zirkzee in the closing stages as United confirmed their position in third place – but the game's main talking point was undeniably the referee's decision to allow Cunha's goal to stand.
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Manchester United's Luke Shaw celebrates scoring the opening goal
Image credit: Getty Images
Speaking to the BBC, former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann said: "You can clearly see that the ball comes off Mbeumo's arm prior to going to Cunha. For me, it is a penalisable handball. Mbeumo does control the ball and, while he's not the scorer himself, football's expectation is for that to be disallowed as opposed to being given.
"The law states that usually it's the scorer, if he accidentally or deliberately handles the ball before putting the ball in the back of the net, it will be disallowed. Football's expectation is that the handball outweighs any possible deflection off Mbeumo's hip."
What is the law on handball leading to a goal?
While the incident may have looked like a straightforward handball, Salisbury’s decision was in line with IFAB’s interpretation of the Laws of the Game.
Football's rulemaker changed the laws of the game so that accidental handballs leading to a team-mate scoring will no longer be penalised.
While goals scored directly from the arm or hand or immediately after will continue to be ruled out even if accidental, it will no longer be the case that goals will be chalked off if the ball touches a team-mate's hand earlier in the build-up.
Under IFAB's handball law, no offence is deemed to have occurred when a player deliberately plays the ball with another part of the body before it subsequently strikes their own hand or arm – unless it results directly in a goal or an immediate scoring opportunity.
The law states: ”A handball offence is not committed when a player heads, kicks or plays the ball with another part of their body and it then hits their own hand/arm (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards).”
Therefore, as Mbeumo inadvertently diverted the ball onto his own hand after it struck his midriff, the goal would have been ruled out had he been the one to apply the finish himself.
Instead, United benefited from the fact that it was Cunha – not Mbeumo – who ultimately converted the chance.
