Anthony Elanga came back to haunt Manchester United on Tuesday night.
Following a £15 million move to Nottingham Forest in 2023, former Manchester United academy graduate Anthony Elanga has gone from strength to strength.
Elanga made 55 appearances for United’s first-team, scoring four goals before Erik ten Hag advised the club to cash in because he didn’t feel the winger would make the grade.
That decision backfired on Tuesday night when neither Alejandro Garnacho and Patrick Dorgu could keep up with the 22-year-old as he ran 70 yards with the ball before finding the composure to find the bottom corner from 18 yards.
Forest held on to their one-goal lead throughout the game as Elanga kept Forest’s dreams of Champions League football alive.
Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
Anthony Elanga reflects on scoring against Manchester United
Scoring his first goal against his former club, Elanga decided not to celebrate but he was happy with the result.
It marked his sixth Premier League goal of the season but Elanga revealed he was not surprised by how far he was allowed to run with the ball.
“Not really, I just saw the space and I believe I am one of [the] fastest players in the league, so if I am, I’m going to back that.
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“I have to show that on the pitch and that is what I did for my goal.”
Elanga showed his pace and strength for the goal to shake off competition from Garnacho and Dorgu.
“I think the finish is something I have been trying to work on,” Elanga continued. “You can run as fast as that but you have got to be calm when it comes to the other side of the goal.
“If it is left foot or right foot, I feel like I am quite comfortable on both feet.”
Elanga shows appreciation towards Manchester United
It has been almost two years since Elanga joined Forest after finding first-team opportunities limited at Old Trafford.
The Sweden international still feels that he owes a lot to his former club and spoke about having to adapt to a different style of football since leaving United.
He added: “All you want to do is just keep on improving and I feel like coming here it has been about playing and developing every single day.
“I know I’m not the finished article; I feel like I can improve in each and every area of my game. I appreciate Manchester United so much because I learnt a lot there and I took another step here to learn a different type of football as well.
“I am enjoying my football, I just want to keep going, keep learning and keep on improving.”
Forest play with a more defensive approach than United as they get every man behind the ball before launching counter-attacks. It’s effective as they showed against Amorim’s side on Tuesday night.