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Manchester United lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest as one of their academy graduates came back to haunt them
Manchester United academy graduate Anthony Elanga came back to haunt his old club on Tuesday night as he scored the only goal of the game as Nottingham Forest recorded a 1-0 win over Ruben Amorim’s side at the City Ground.
The decisive moment came after five minutes as the hosts broke from a United corner to swiftly move up the pitch through Elanga who fired past Andre Onana. United had 69 per cent possession and 23 shots but could not make their dominance count as a resolute defensive effort from the hosts kept the Red Devils at bay. The tenacity of the home side was summed up deep into second-half stoppage time when Harry Maguire poked the ball past Matz Sels only for Murillo to get on the line to clear the ball away.
Anthony Elanga earns praise after being named man of the match
"It is about attacking the space and getting to the opposite goal as quick as I can. I saw the space and I believe I'm one of the fastest players in the league," said Elanga after being awarded man of the match against United.
"The finish is something I have been trying to work on. Left foot or right foot, I am quite comfortable with both feet this season. All you want to do is keep on improving. Coming here is about playing and developing. I appreciate Manchester United so much as I learned a lot there. I am enjoying my football and I want to keep on going."
The Sweden international then took to Instagram with a picture of his player of the match awarded. The post was liked by United youngster Chido Obi Martin while United academy graduate Largie Ramazani - who now plays for Leeds United - commented ‘Herroooooooo’ underneath the image. Ramazani played with Elanga for United’s academy teams but Ramazani left Old Trafford in June 2020 after rejecting a new deal at the club. He had made just one senior appearance for the Red Devils, which came in the Europa League in 2019.
Why Anthony Elanga left Man Utd
Elanga joined Forest for £15m back in 2023. In that period he has 27 goal contributions in the Premier League - which is 11 more than Alejandro Garnacho and also 13 more than Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo. Prior to his loan move to Real Betis, Antony had just two goal contributions in the same period.
It has been claimed that then manager Erik ten Hag was not a fan of Elanga but the player insisted his departure was not down to the Dutchman. He told soccernews.nl back in February 2024: "Was Ten Hag the reason I left United? No, I wouldn't say that. I just wanted to play, that was especially important to me. I'm young and I don't want to sit on the bench all season, you know? When you're young you want to play, you want to make mistakes, you want to take risks. But he wasn't the reason for my leaving. There I mainly focused on myself, not on others.”
He added: “Of course I also saw what he did at Ajax. But when you come to England everything is different. He has improved several players, for example Ryan Gravenberch, who now plays for Liverpool. But I just wanted to take my chance and go somewhere else. And that was a good decision, because I am enjoying myself at Forest.”
In other Manchester United news, the club’s 2025/26 away kit has leaked and features a retro purple design.