Anthony Elanga’s matchwinner against Manchester United was the longest goal-ending carry in the Premier League this season. Once he started running, there was no stopping him.
Sixteen seconds.
Just 16 seconds separated Bruno Fernandes taking a corner for Manchester United at one end and Anthony Elanga scoring for Nottingham Forest at the other.
It was ultimately the decisive action in a 1-0 win for Forest at the City Ground on Tuesday, as Elanga stunned his former club with a moment of brilliance that undoubtedly left some United supporters ruing the day they sold the Sweden international.
United will have known all too well the pace Elanga possesses. They may not have been specifically aware that he’s the fifth-fastest player in the Premier League, but his Speedy Gonzalez act won’t have come as a surprise.
Not that their first-hand knowledge of him did United any good in the moment, of course.
Ryan Yates cleared Fernandes’ corner and it dropped perfectly for Elanga, who sped on to it about midway through the Forest half.
After bursting clear of Patrick Dorgu, Alejandro Garnacho managed to catch up to Elanga and, for a moment, looked certain to haul him down. He had to, right?
Except, the Argentinian winger simply rebounded off Elanga, who swatted his former teammate off like a mildly irritating mosquito.
United were suddenly in a world of trouble; despite Dorgu getting back to a degree, it was essentially Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White vs Noussair Mazraoui. The Moroccan was caught in two minds, unsure whether to pay more attention to the latter or the former.
In the end, that indecision coupled with Dorgu’s inability to get back quickly enough left Elanga with a shooting opportunity. The split second he shifted the ball on to his left foot might’ve briefly given United fans hope, but as we’ve pointed out before, there aren’t many Premier League players more two-footed than Elanga.
In some respects, it was the simplest goal imaginable. Not to do Elanga a disservice, but he didn’t even need to actually beat a defender who was attempting a genuine tackle.
He just latched onto possession and ran. And kept running. And no one stopped him. Like a real-life (Nottingham) Forrest Gump… Apologies.
“He did it by himself. Credit to him,” Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo said in his post-match press conference. “He has this special ability to drive with pace and still control the ball at such a huge speed. The finishing was great.
“It was very special. He has this ability of driving. It is the capacity to drive with the ball with pace and still be able to control it. To do that is very difficult and requires a lot of technique.”
Unsurprisingly, it was the longest distance any player has carried the ball before scoring in the Premier League this season.
From the moment he first touched the ball to the point from where he shot, Elanga travelled 54.1 metres.
He travelled more than an additional 12m compared to the next longest, which was Patson Daka against West Ham – he covered 41.9m before his late strike in December’s 3-1 win.
For what it’s worth, there have been three longer carries leading to assists this season, and curiously one of those was also against United, when Micky van de Ven ran 56.1m prior to setting up Brennan Johnson for probably the easiest goal of his career at Old Trafford.
Elanga also broke into the top 10 for longest goal-ending carries on record (since 2015-16). He slots in at ninth ahead of Jesse Lingard (51.6m, West Ham vs Wolves – April 2021), nudging Jordon Ibe (51.5m, Liverpool vs West Brom – May 2016) down to 11th.
If Yates’ clearance had slightly less distance on it then Elanga would probably have found himself even higher up the top 10. After all, his run did of course begin before getting that first touch on the ball, but the ‘carry’ doesn’t technically begin until it’s in the player’s possession.
Elanga’s achievement also means he’s the only player to appear in the top 10 for both longest goal- and assist-ending carries in the Premier League (since 2015-16), as he sits sixth in the rankings for the latter as well.
That relates to his very first goal involvement for Forest on the opening matchday of the 2023-24 season. Elanga ran 55.8m against Arsenal before teeing up Taiwo Awoniyi for a close-range finish, as the Swede provided Forest fans with a first glimpse of what he could do at pace.
His goal on Tuesday was one of pure quality and a fitting full-circle moment for Elanga, who spent nearly a decade at United across the first team and youth sides.
But he wasn’t the first Forest player to run straight through Manchester United’s supple centre.
Also in August 2023, Awoniyi – who also led the line on Tuesday – ran a whopping 54.7m before slotting past the suspect André Onana in a 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford.
That goal also came following a United corner. Forest cleared their lines and Gibbs-White rose above Aaron Wan-Bissaka to flick the ball on. Awoniyi burst onto it, getting there ahead of Marcus Rashford, and was essentially left with a free run all the way to the United box.
Although he technically took up possession higher up the pitch than Elanga, he also carried the ball much closer to goal, eventually stroking the ball home from about seven yards out. That Awoniyi strike ranks eighth for longest goal-ending carries on record in the Premier League, directly ahead of Elanga.
You might be sensing a trend here involving United, and with good reason.
Routinely they’ve been criticised as being too easy to play through, and Elanga’s goal was just the latest example.
It was the fourth instance in the Premier League this season that a player has managed to get a shot away or set up a chance for a teammate against United after a ball carry of at least 50m in length. No other club have allowed more than two such scenarios.
Similarly, it was the second occasion (after Johnson’s Van de Ven-inspired goal for Spurs) this season that a ball carry of 50m+ has led to a goal against United; that’s the most in the division.
But Tuesday’s example was as much about the quality Elanga and Forest possess in such moments, with this goal a succinct – albeit extreme – example of the kind of football that’s brought them to the brink of Champions League football.
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