The Argentine couldn't hit the target with any of his five efforts on goal as his former team-mate made the difference with a stunning solo effort
Anthony Elanga gave Manchester United a brutal reminder of how they failed to appreciate his talent by scoring an incredible solo effort as the Red Devils were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. The United academy graduate ran from his own half and made it all the way to the edge of the opposing area before delivering a crisp low finish under Andre Onana to give Forest the lead in the fifth minute.
Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui and Alejandro Garnacho all should have done more to stop the Swede in his tracks, and once Forest got ahead they rarely looked like relinquishing their lead to their toothless visitors. Garnacho provided United's biggest threat in the sense that he kept on trying to make something happen, but kept on losing the ball or shanking shots into either the nearest defender or the stands behind Matz Sels' goal.
In the end the closest United came to scoring was when substitutes Mason Mount and Harry Maguire went close late on, and though it was not a bad performance overall, the defeat deepened the Red Devils' dire season and brought up a 13th loss in the Premier League, further harming Ruben Amorim's side's confidence ahead of Sunday's derby against Manchester City.
GOAL rates United's players from the City Ground…
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Andre Onana (6/10):
Not much he could do about the goal. Saved well from Yates, albeit when the Forest midfielder was offside.
Leny Yoro (6/10):
Confident and purposeful on the ball. Absolved of any blame for the goal.
Matthijs de Ligt (6/10):
His positioning was a bit suspect overall, although didn't do anything wrong for the goal.
Noussair Mazraoui (5/10):
Shaky for large parts of the game. Indecisive when Elanga was running full pelt towards him. Did make a good intervention to thwart Gibbs-White.
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Diogo Dalot (6/10):
Busy and committed throughout, but lacked a decent delivery.
Casemiro (6/10):
Put himself about well but got frustrated as game progressed, with the crowd on his back. It was understandable when he was taken off.
Manuel Ugarte (5/10):
A middling first-half display, losing the header from which Elanga launched his run. Sacrificed at half-time so Hojlund could boost the attack.
Patrick Dorgu (4/10)
Did nothing right for the goal, as he got the wrong side of Elanga, failed to keep up with him or take him out.
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Alejandro Garnacho (4/10):
Nothing went right for him. Couldn't get past Forest's defenders and didn't test Matz Sels with any of his five shots. Made a poor, half-hearted attempt to halt Elanga in the lead up to the goal when he should have fouled him.
Bruno Fernandes (6/10):
Had a good effort at Sels just before Elanga struck. Fuelled United's attacks with clever passing. but wasn't at the top of his game and neither were his team-mates
Joshua Zirkzee (5/10):
Didn't do enough as the starting centre-forward and didn't improve much when Hojlund came on either.
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Rasmus Hojlund (5/10):
Had a couple of promising runs behind but Forest's monstrous defenders were quick to stamp out the threat.
Christian Eriksen (5/10):
Added a touch more creativity, but didn't really have an impact.
Mason Mount (6/10):
Inches away from scoring in his first appearance since December.
Harry Maguire (N/A):
A very late addition to try and add a threat in the box. Glanced a header wide in added time and then had an effort cleared off the line by Murillo at the death.
Ruben Amorim (5/10):
Made the wrong selection by starting Zirkzee up front and seemed to admit it by bringing on Hojlund at half-time. His changes led to a small improvement, but his side never seriously looked like equalising.