Ferdinand blames three Man Utd players for Elanga’s solo winner vs. Forest

Rio Ferdinand has pointed the finger at three Manchester United players who failed to stop Anthony Elanga's blistering goal on Tuesday night.

Elanga ran most of the length of the pitch with the ball before firing low and hard past Andre Onana to give Nottingham Forest a 1-0 win against his former side.

The win brings Champions League football a step closer to reality, with Forest now 10 points clear of sixth-placed Newcastle. The Premier League is almost certain to have five clubs in the Champions League next season, and could have up to seven.

United's fans chanted vociferously for Ruben Amorim at the City Ground but they remain 13th in the Premier League, seven points off the top half.

And Ferdinand could not believe that Elanga, who refused to celebrate against his former side, ran 85 metres in nine seconds without a credible challenge.

'There's three moments where they could have stopped the goal,' he told TNT Sports.

'First of all, it's a wonderful goal by Elanga and you can't take it away from him.

'When you look at the defensive point of view, (Patrick) Dorgu has got to be goal side, you got to think defensively first, you know the threat is pace so be in a better position to stop that.

'(Alejandro) Garnacho should take him out, foul him. (Noussair) Mazraoui has got to engage with the attacking player.'

Elanga's counter-attack came from a corner and he burst clear of Dorgu as the ball was headed away, so by the time it landed, he already had a couple of steps on the £29.4million signing.

The winger kept sprinting, and when he got parallel with the edge of the centre-cirlce in United's half, Garnacho had a chance to challenge him but fell as he was outmuscled.

In the time between Garnacho starting his challenge and falling, Elanga had already advanced dangerously quickly.

With Elanga around 30 yards from goal, Mazraoui was the last man, but his body was turned towards the goal and he was backpedalling.

Mazraoui kept retreating, so Elanga had a plain route into the box and gobbled up the space before striking past Onana with his left foot.

All of this happened at breakneck speed and, as such, the standard for the reaction times and decision-making required was high, but United failed to reach that mark.

Elanga has been one of Forest's key players, chipping in with six goals and nine assists to help their surprise Champions League push under Nuno Espirito Santo.

He came through United's youth ranks before moving to Forest for £15million in the summer of 2023.

Speaking to TNT Sports about his goal, he said: 'It's about attacking the space and getting to the edge of the box as quick as I can, that's where you can hurt the opposition.

'I saw the space and I back that I can show it on the pitch. It's not too shabby!

'The finish was something I've worked on. You can run fast but you need to remain calm.'