How 'special boy' Anthony Elanga came back to bite Manchester United with 'sensational' solo goal for Nottingham Forest
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Published 02/04/2025 at 18:07 GMT+1
Anthony Elanga's brilliant solo goal helped Nottingham Forest consolidate third place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Manchester United as the club marches towards UEFA Champions League qualification for next season. Meanwhile, the beaten Red Devils were left to rue the sale of Elanga to Forest as their season suffered yet another devastating blow.
'Sensational' Elanga goes the length of the pitch to stun Man Utd with a worldie
Video credit: TNT Sports
It was a case of the past coming back to haunt Manchester in their 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Anthony Elanga, who came through the United youth system having moved to England aged 12, was considered surplus to requirements at Old Trafford in 2023, facilitating his move to Nottingham.
But the 22-year-old seems to have had something of a last laugh, scoring a sensational winner to condemn his former side to another bruising defeat this campaign.
It was not just the fact he scored, but also the manner of the goal that caught the eye.
Picking up the ball in his own half, the Swedish winger drove forward.
After evading the tackle of Alejandro Garnacho, Elanga powered toward the penalty area, and with a sight of goal, drilled the ball between defenders Noussair Mazraoui and Patrick Dorgu, beyond Andre Onana into the back of the net.
"Well Manchester United didn't want him, but it's come back to bite them tonight," said Darren Fletcher on TNT Sports commentary.
"That's a sensational counter-attacking goal by Anthony Elanga!"
Opta measured the distance Elanga carried the ball at 51.2 metres, the 14th longest distance they have on record in the Premier League since 2014/15.
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Elanga goal -
Image credit: Opta
Dribbles and progressing the ball up the pitch are key features of Elanga’s game and have been key to Forest’s unexpected rise up the table.
"He’s a special boy," said manager Nuno Espirito Santo after the match. "These things that he has, his speed, his control of the ball. He just did it by himself. [It] was huge and we’re delighted".
Since arriving at the club, Elanga has 11 goal involvements (four goals and seven assists) from carries (running with the ball for over five metres), the joint-sixth most of any player in the league in that time, with his seven assists the joint-fourth most on that metric.
| Premier League since 2023-24 | Goal Ending Carries | Assist Ending Carries | Goal Involvements Following a Carry |
| Mohamed Salah | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| Son Heung-Min | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Anthony Gordon | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Jérémy Doku | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Bukayo Saka | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Erling Haaland | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| Cole Palmer | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Ollie Watkins | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Jarrod Bowen | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| Anthony Elanga | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Antoine Semenyo | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Premier League since 2023-24 | Assist Ending Carries |
| Mohamed Salah | 12 |
| Son Heung-Min | 10 |
| Jérémy Doku | 9 |
| Anthony Gordon | 9 |
| Cole Palmer | 7 |
| Bruno Fernandes | 7 |
| Morgan Gibbs-White | 7 |
| Anthony Elanga | 7 |
| Ollie Watkins | 7 |
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On a more granular level, with more game time under his belt at the City Ground, his total progressive carries of 172 in his debut season almost doubled his entire total in his three preceding years with United, which totalled 95.
This season he is averaging 7.2 progressive carries per 90 minutes, with his best average in a season at Old Trafford coming in his final season at 4.91 carries per 90 minutes.
At United, none of his carries resulted in a goal or assist compared to the 11 he has amassed since his move.
| Anthony Elanga - Premier League | 2020/2021 (per 90) | 2021/2022 (per 90) | 2022/2023 (per 90) | 2023/2024 (per 90) | 2024/2025 (per 90) |
| Games Played | 2 | 21 | 16 | 36 | 30 |
| Minutes Played | 156 | 1214 | 422 | 2433 | 1938 |
| Goals | 1 (0.58) | 2 (0.15) | 0 | 5 (0.18) | 6 (0.28) |
| Assists | 0 | 2 (0.15) | 1 (0.21) | 9 (0.33) | 8 (0.37) |
| Dribbles Attempted | 9 (5.19) | 35 (2.59) | 15 (3.2) | 83 (3.07) | 58 (2.69) |
| Dribbles Completed | 3 (1.73) | 11 (0.82) | 6 (1.28) | 28 (1.04) | 22 (1.02) |
| All Progressive Carries | 8 (4.62) | 64 (4.74) | 23 (4.91) | 172 (6.36) | 155 (7.2) |
| Goal Ending Carries | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.04) | 3 (0.14) |
| Assist Ending Carries | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (0.15) | 3 (0.14) |
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Highlights: Man Utd stunned by Elanga solo brilliance
Video credit: TNT Sports
The added pain from watching a former player punish them with this kind of goal, perhaps further highlights Manchester United's own struggles so far this season, given that they have scored just one more goal from a progressive carry than Elanga on his own.
| Manchester United - Premier League | Goal Ending Carries | Assist Ending Carries |
| 2023/2024 | 11 | 11 |
| 2024/2025 | 4 | 8 |
Speaking on Elanga's improvement as a player since leaving Old Trafford, Ruben Amorim suggested that the "pressure" of being at the club is too great for certain young players to thrive.
"We are talking about a lot of front players that come from Manchester United and they are doing right," he said in his post-match press conference.
"But they had the chance here. At Manchester United you don't have the time.
"So, they had their chances and sometimes football is like that and the pressure of playing for Manchester United is really big."
Elanga: 'That’s where you hurt the opposition'
"It’s all about attacking the space and getting to the opposite goal as quickly as I can. That’s where you hurt the opposition," Elanga told TNT Sports after the game.
"I’ve seen the space and like I’ve said before, I think I’m one of the fastest players in the league and if I’m going to back that, I’m going to have to show that on the pitch and I think that’s what I did for my goal.
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Elanga reflects on stunning winner: 'I'm one of the fastest players in the league'
Video credit: TNT Sports
"All you want to do is just keep on improving, and I feel like coming here it’s about playing and developing every single day. I know I’m not the finished article, I feel I can improve every single area of my game.
"I appreciate Manchester United so much because I learned a lot there, but I took another step here and learned a different type of football."
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Image credit: Opta
Forest are third in the table with eight matches remaining and a healthy gap to the teams chasing UEFA Champions League places, meaning it is more than likely Elanga will get the chance to provide similar moments of magic on the biggest stage next season.
All stats courtesy of Opta
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