Anthony Elanga can help strengthen Manchester United transfer budget this summer
Memorable moments for Manchester United in 2022 have been few and far between, with the year producing just seven wins from 20 largely underwhelming games.
Cristiano Ronaldo's show-stopping hat-trick against Tottenham may be the highlight but for those United fans lucky enough to be in Madrid it might be usurped by Anthony Elanga's unexpected equaliser against Atletico in the Wanda Metropolitano.
United didn't deserve to leave the Spanish capital with the tie so delicately poised - and ultimately it didn't matter - but they did so because of Elanga's composure and finishing ability.
READ MORE: Wolves expecting Neves sale with United invited to bid
The academy graduate's goal was memorable for the scenes that followed in that away end, with his song taking off that night in Madrid. In a wretched season, he has been one of the very few positives.
His emergence is all the more impressive given it has come almost entirely in this calendar year, when belief within the squad has tanked under Ralf Rangnick. The interim manager will have plenty of strong opinions to pass on to Erik ten Hag, but his only real successes on the training pitch are Elanga and, maybe, Jadon Sancho.
Elanga made a positive impact with the first team towards the end of last season but managed just 17 minutes this term before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked. Promoting the winger to more regular action was one of Rangnick's first decisions and easily one of his most successful.
There have been 22 United appearances under Rangnick and another two for Sweden. As well as that goal in Madrid Elanga also scored in wins at Brentford and Leeds.
On what was another hugely disappointing day at the weekend, Elanga again looked like one of United's brighter