Elanga solo goal pushes Forest closer to Champions League football with victory against United
Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga scores against his former club
The best run of Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United reign was eclipsed by one from former Manchester United winger Anthony Elanga whose magnificent solo sprint and goal maintained Nottingham Forest’s memorable season.
Having spent nine years at United, from the age of 12, Elanga was allowed to leave Old Trafford two years ago and clearly had a point to prove against a United side that had not lost in its last seven games.
Prove it he did, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side continued their charge for Champions League football with a victory that, incredibly, leaves United still looking to record back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
Amorim had hinted before the game that Elanga, possibly, had not been able to handle the intense pressure of playing for United - a charge that could be levelled at any number of players over the past decade or so.
If it was a misguided effort to inspire the former United winger, it could not have worked better.
In keeping with the game, United started by dominating possession and had the first chance, Bruno Fernandes’s sharp 25-yard shot being turned around his post expertly by Matz Sels.
The corner should have kept the pressure on a Forest team that could have been fatigued, after playing 120 minutes and winning a penalty shootout in the weekend FA Cup quarterfinal win at Brighton. Instead, it presented them with the opening goal after Ryan Yates headed Fernandes’s corner out of his area.
Elanga picked up the ball deep in his own half and set off on a scintillating 85-metre run, covering it in nine seconds despite Alejandro Garnacho trying in vain to bring him down from behind, before burying an unstoppable finish past Andre Onana from 12 yards.
Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui also failed to cover themselves in glory, as they were distracted by the presence of Morgan Gibbs-White on the break, but it was a piece of devastating football that summed up Forest’s season to date.
It was the start of a half in which United failed to force Sels into another meaningful save, although Diogo Dalot was unlucky when he headed against the bar from a Fernandes corner.
The only thing to upset Nuno, especially with the vital games coming up for his team, was an injury suffered by right-back Ola Aina after 38 minutes when the Forest manager making two subs and switching to three at the back.
That was one of a number of interesting tactical nuances in the battle between the two Portuguese managers. Yates was tasked with trying to stop United’s in-form playmakers Fernandes from making his usual impact, while Elliot Anderson and Manuel Ugarte were engaged in a no-holds barred tussle.
Anderson got the better of it, helping Amorim’s decision to take off Ugarte at the interval and bring on Rasmus Hojlund, surprisingly left out of the starting line-up despite having ended his 22-game wait for a goal on his last outing.
It looked a good decision, within a minute of the restart, when Hojlund won a corner via a deflected shot and Casemiro headed Fernandes’s cross straight at the keeper.
It also sparked Forest into life, with a Yates header forcing Onana into as brilliant save, although he was offside and a goal would not have counted, before Gibbs-White shot disappointingly over from a good position just inside the area.
With a high shot, Garnacho responded, and so did his manager, by bringing on Christian Eriksen to replace Casemiro, who had picked up one yellow card and seemed destined to pick up another with his approach.
Garnacho was starting to look more of a factor, racing through from a Fernandes pass only to be halted by a brilliant Yates tackle, and then shooting over from a corner.
And United maintained the pressure by bringing on Mason Mount, for his first game since December, and his very first touch saw him place a shot just wide from the edge of the area following Nikola Milenkovic’s poor clearance.
Harry Maguire, playing up front, headed wide late from a Dorgu cross, whch summed up United frustrations and the last kick of the game saw Maguire’s shot cleared off the line by Murillo.
Sels 7; Aina 6 (Moreno 39, 6), Milenkovic 7, Murillo 7, Williams 7; Yates 8, Anderson 7 (Dominguez 66, 5); Elanga 9 (Sosa 86), Gibbs-White 6, Danilo 6 (Morato 40, 6); Awoniyi 6 (Sangare 86).
Boly, Silva, Toffolo, Miguel.
Onana 6; Yoro 7 (Maguire 88), de Ligt 6, Mazraoui 5; Dalot 6, Casemiro 5 (Eriksen 59, 6), Ugarte 5 (Hojlund 46, 6), Dorgu 6; Fernandes 7, Garnacho 6; Zirkzee 5 (Mount 78).
Amass, Bayindir, Collyer, Kone, Lindelof.
J Gillett 5
