Nottingham Forest shocked Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday to win at the stadium for the first time in 30 years.
Stan Collymore was happy afterwards and perhaps now people can park the memories of 1994 when the famous striker scored the winning goal.
That was the last time the Reds won at the Theatre of Dreams and under Nuno Espirito Santo, the perception of Forest is changing.
Nobody is laughing at Espirito Santo after his failed Tottenham tenure anymore – and right now Spurs would probably have him back!
There were several top performers against United and for Nikola Milenkovic the game saw him score a first goal in English football.
Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic (partially hidden) beats Manchester United's Diogo Dalot and heads the opening goal of the match during the P...
Photo by Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images
Robbie Earle says Nikola Milenkovic would get in Manchester United team
The Serbia captain rose the highest in the second minute on Saturday as Forest defied the odds to win at Old Trafford.
United are trying to improve and a win over Forest at the weekend would have seen them go above the Reds on goal difference.
Now, however, Espirito Santo’s team are six points better off than United with Forest sitting fifth in the Premier League.
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Much of Forest’s success has been down to the brilliance of Milenkovic and it’s quite remarkable how good he’s been.
Earle told The 2 Robbies Podcast: “Before we move on to Manchester United, I’m going to get to my underappreciated of the week and it’s Nikola Milenkovic. The big Serbian centre-back has been on my radar for a little while and I’ve been keeping tabs on him. He got the goal and in Premier League terms they got him for a pittance, he’s big, aggressive, and wants to win.
“Playing at Old Trafford yesterday and maybe this is too much of a comparison but I saw a bit of Vidic in him – a nonsense centre-back, wants to head it, wants to defend and pull people around. There’s a really good balance between him and Murillo.
“I looked at the two central defenders for Forest yesterday and I’m not sure I would swap any of the Manchester United defenders for those two. He’s one of those players who slips under the radar.”
Milenkovic is already the Forest signing of the season
There has never been a truer word spoken than what Earle has said about Milenkovic.
Given that Forest spent just £12 million on the defender from Fiorentina, it’s unfathomable that other clubs weren’t eyeing his services.
Milenkovic has slotted in seamlessly in the Premier League and he looks like a player who has been playing in this league for years.
At 27-years-old, the player still has bags of his career to play and Forest have got a quality defender at a cheap price ahead of his very best years.
Milenkovic clearly enjoyed his goal and the comparisons to Nemanja Vidic will be natural ones given that he’s been the heir to his throne for the national team.
On current form, Milenkovic is comfortably the pound-for-pound signing of the season and it’s once again another feather in the cap of the club’s more savvy approach to recruitment.
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