In the early morning of February 24, the first leg of the Champions League knockout round continued, and the Red Devils United visited the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium in Madrid to challenge Atletico Madrid. After conceding a goal first, United ended up 1-1 thanks to a goal from 19-year-old Erlanga. Saved hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals. This goal is not only the 500th goal of Manchester United's Champions League career, but also the first Champions League goal of Erlanga, setting a new record for the youngest goal scorer in the Champions League knockout round in The History of Manchester United and the youngest goal scorer for a Swedish player in the Champions League.
In this campaign, Rashford and Varane were given the opportunity to rotate the starting point, but United suffered a blow in the opening 7 minutes, Roddy's diagonal cross from the left was hoisted into the box, the Manchester United backline was not tight, and Felix easily jumped to the top to attack the goal guarded by De Gea. In the following time, the two teams came and went, but the ability to seize opportunities in front of the goal was unbearable, and the score was never rewritten.
In the 74th minute of the game, Lonnick made the fourth substitution adjustment, the last round of substitutes to complete the goal of the young man Erlanga Phi put on the post, just 6 minutes later, Manchester United organized the attack, Bruno Fernandez midfield sent a precise direct plug, Elanga inserted at high speed to form a single knife, and with a clean low shot knocked on the world's first goalkeeper Oblak guarded the dragon goal. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that Manchester United has shot on target in this game.
Looking at the performance of other starters in the United midfield, C Ronaldo shot 2 and 0 on target, Rashford, Sancho and B Fee all shot 1 and 0 on target, and Pogba, the core of the midfield, shot 0 shots in 66 minutes. But on this night when they were forced by their opponents to be forced by the high intensity of the body, Although Manchester United was a bit embarrassed, they did not mess up in the end, and finally withdrew with the magical blow of the 19-year-old.
It was Ellanga's third goal in all competitions of the season and the fourth goal of Manchester United's career, and it is worth mentioning that all four goals have come on the road, and the cheers of the home fans he has not yet had a chance to hear. In Rashford's average state and Greenwood's imprisonment, Erlanga's sudden emergence made Manchester United fans feel the surprise of youth power again.
However, to be fair, compared with Marcus Rashford and Greenwood, two Manchester United princes, Erlanga still has a certain gap in football talent. Marcus Rashford made his first-team debut and Premier League debut twice, and he was a high school student at the time. Greenwood also set the record for the youngest goal scorer in the Manchester United Premier League and In Europe, and is known as Little Van Persie.
Looking at Erlanga, after entering the Manchester United academy in 2015, his best personal data is the United U23 37 games 15 goals and 7 assists, while Greenwood handed over a 34-game, 34-goal and 9-assist answer sheet in the U23. However, Elanga has one characteristic that is enough to make the two princes ashamed, that is, diligence. Manchester United star Hargreaves pointed out after the game, "When Manchester United equalised, the only thing that impressed me was The sense of urgency of Erlanga and him running forward. It was his own creation. He forced Bruno Fernandez to pass the ball to him. That's what the team needs — someone rushing forward. ”
In fact, this season's Manchester United forward, C Ronaldo because of his high age, speed and explosiveness have dropped significantly, in the game can only use the way to save physical strength, expecting him to sprint at high speed again and again is not realistic. But strangely enough, Rashford and Greenwood, two bloody young men, also appeared very lazy in the game, the former in the FA Cup match with Villa, the former appeared dissatisfied with the teammate's shot and directly gave up the supplementary shot, and Greenwood was also questioned because of the wind and wave shot before entering the game.
And Elanga, despite his limited talent, is very diligent on the pitch and willing to run, as Hargreaves said, he has already run into place, and his teammates are embarrassed not to pass him. So in the end, it is still the reward of heaven and earth.