Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Anthony Elanga his future at Manchester United is bright after he scored his first goal for the club against Wolves. The 19-year-old winger was making his second appearance for United and he capped it with a fine diving header to give United the lead in their 2-1 success at Molineux. Juan Mata’s penalty on the stroke of half-time secured victory for United and an unbeaten season away from home in the Premier League, but the teenager was the star of the show.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I think what you maybe don’t see is his attitude and desire and his personality, he’s a lad who wants to learn, he’s very humble and works really hard. He’s got some attributes you wish for as a player, that pace, directness, he’s right-footed, but he’s equally as good on his left. I’ve not seen him score headers like this so that was a big bonus as well. The future is bright for him and I know I can trust him to keep his feet on the ground and make the most of his talent.”
As well as Elanga there was another start for 18-year-old Amad, while Shola Shoretire, Hannibal Mejbri and Will Fish came off the bench, the latter two for their debuts.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “You’d like to say that you will see some of these in the future. It was a game in the spirit of Manchester United, Sir Alex and Sir Matt, that you give players a chance. I was very, very proud and pleased with the players today, I thought they were excellent, that’s my sense of satisfaction, seeing players going out there expressing themselves and enjoying themselves. It’s never been about me, anyone can write anything about me, as long as it’s not lies they can have any opinion and I don’t really care about that, my job is to do my best for Manchester United and today it was a Manchester United spirit of a performance with loads of kids that made their debuts and Elanga scored his first goal, I was really proud of them.”
United became only the fourth team to go unbeaten away from home in a top-flight season with the victory at Wolves.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “It’s a terrific achievement to get through a whole season with no defeats away from home. We knew by making these chances we’d take a risk of losing that record but they did everyone proud, it was a fantastic performance.”
