Whisper it quietly but something special is brewing at Nottingham Forest.
The Reds came from behind on Trentside to defeat Aston Villa and climb up to fourth place in the Premier League table.
Forest won the game courtesy of goals from Nikola Milenkovic who scored for the second time this season and Anthony Elanga who was among the goals for the first time since February.
The Reds got the better of Villa despite going behind when Jhon Duran scored following a nicely worked team move by the away team.
After Chris Wood saw a goal disallowed following a very tight VAR call, it felt as though Forest’s luck might have deserted them on home soil.
But, after Milenkovic’s headed finish, it was left to Elanga to send the City Ground faithful into raptures with a tidy finish at the death.
Nikola Milenkovic of Nottingham Forest celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and As...
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Anthony Elanga lauds Aston Villa star after getting the better of him
The 22-year-old has been desperately trying to get himself in the starting eleven of late and he was once again on the bench against Villa.
He etched his name onto the score sheet with his winner in the third minute of stoppage time and the relief was written all over his face.
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After the game, it was Elanga who fronted up to the press and he hailed Villa star Emi Martinez for his brilliance between the posts.
With the scores level at 0-0, the World Cup winner made a ridiculous stop to thwart Nicolas Dominguez from point-blank range.
Elanga told the press: “We work in training on the different types of movements and looking at it now, it’s a good finish. Credit to Martinez. I think he had a great game and made that great save, but we got past him in the end.”
Elanga must kick on following Villa game
This has to be the moment where Elanga looks back and cites a change in approach and a corner being turned in his career.
Elanga was largely brilliant last season and as a young player, there will always be inconsistencies while he strives to find himself a little bit.
The Sweden international has lost his place on the international stage and he will be desperate to win that back for March’s round of fixtures.
Elanga hasn’t all of a sudden become a bad footballer and now the hope will be that he can take his game up a notch over the festive period.
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