Elanga explains the double SIUUU!
When Cristiano Ronaldo invited Anthony Elanga to join him in a double trademark 'SIUUU!' celebration against Norwich City it spoke volumes about the no.7's appreciation of the youngster's efforts.
Pressing high up the pitch, the Sweden international unselfishly teed our top scorer up for the first goal in what proved to be another hat-trick at Old Trafford. And it sparked a nice moment as the pair of them leaped high in the air to mark the opener, as the crowd celebrated the breakthrough.
It was another highlight for Elanga in what has been a fine season on a personal level and, on the eve of his 20th birthday on Thursday, he provided United Review, the official matchday programme, with an exclusive interview ahead of the Bank Holiday assignment with Brentford.
Watch Elanga’s best Academy goals
Enjoy these 14 brilliant ‘unseen’ strikes from Anthony’s time with our various youth teams…
"That was an exciting time, the double SIUUU!" admitted the homegrown forward. "I didn't expect it. He said: 'Let's do it'. I said: 'Fair enough' but, if you see in the video, I didn't really get into the air properly!
"But I managed to do it anyway and it was a special moment.
"He is someone I look up to and speak to and ask for advice and stuff. He is a special player to work with."
When asked if Cristiano's gesture was perhaps an illustration of how much he appreciated the assist, Elanga replied: "Yeah, we spoke about it the day before actually. How we were going to work in terms of pressing.
"If you get an opportunity, to look up. If he gets an opportunity, to look up for me, as I'll be in the box or he will be in the box."
17y 81d - Cristiano Ronaldo is 17 years and 81 days older than Anthony Elanga, who assisted his goal today. It's the most a Man Utd goalscorer has been older than the player who assisted him in their Premier League history. Generational. pic.twitter.com/msIvVwUFyP
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 16, 2022
There's no better man when it comes to goalscoring and Elanga believes he and his fellow attackers have to look to learn from United's great no.7.
“You can see his record and the amount of goals he's scored. I think it's 100 in the Premier League.
“He know what it takes to get to the top so it's more than right to just speak to someone like that. And, yeah, we have a chat the day before or even during a game. You might see us in the warm-up.
“He'll speak to me and Sancho together about what we can do in the game, to affect the games, and it's important to have someone like that in the team.”
Read the full interview with Anthony in Monday's edition of United Review.