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Anthony Elanga had left Manchester United in the past. On Tuesday, they trailed in his wake.
Alejandro Garnacho and Patrick Dorgu could not keep up with the 22-year-old as he burst from the edge of his own area on to Ryan Yates' defensive header, collected the ball and ran 70 yards.
The Sweden winger still had the composure to find the bottom corner from 18 yards.
A special moment - but he refused to celebrate against the club he joined as a 12-year-old.
A 1-0 win maintained Forest's relentless quest to reach the Champions League and left them third in the Premier League, with a 10-point lead over Newcastle in sixth.
Boss Nuno Espirito Santo admitted he had never seen a goal like it, while Forest captain Yates labelled his team-mate a "midfielder's dream".
"It is about attacking the space and getting to the opposite goal as quick as I can. I saw the space and I believe I'm one of the fastest players in the league," Elanga told TNT Sports while holding his man-of-the-match award.
"The finish is something I have been trying to work on. Left foot or right foot, I am quite comfortable with both feet this season.
"All you want to do is keep on improving. Coming here is about playing and developing. I appreciate Manchester United so much as I learned a lot there.
"I am enjoying my football and I want to keep on going."
His £15m move to Nottingham Forest in 2023 was meant to bring that enjoyment back into his game.
He made 55 appearances, scoring four goals, for United but was jettisoned by Erik ten Hag, who felt the winger wasn't going to make the grade. That came after just five Premier League starts in 2022-23.
Interestingly, though, current United boss Ruben Amorim played down the fact that Elanga was allowed to leave.
He said: "We are talking about a lot of players who were at Manchester United who are doing right, but they had the chance here. At United, you don't have the time. I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast.
"They were here and here the pressure is too big sometimes. Sometimes you don't have time and you should have time for these kids to develop.
"For that you need a strong base. If you don't have it, we are not going to help our kids. They had their chances and sometimes the pressure playing for Manchester United is really big."
There are clearly no regrets from Elanga, though, whose six-goal return is a season's best.
"I made the right decision, 100%," Elanga told the Athletic in December. "I have not really spoken about this, but at the time at United, I was very young and I was coming into a team that was struggling.
"Yes, there was the thought that 'I am playing for Manchester United'. But I also never felt as though I was improving. I was playing for the sake of playing when I did get the odd opportunity off the bench.
"Coming to Forest was so big for me, because suddenly I was regularly playing 90 minutes, while having the opportunity to improve. When I played, I felt like I had purpose; like I was playing and improving in the process. That was the biggest change for me.
"I feel as though I know the league inside-out now, because I have had the chance to learn. I have no regrets, because I am enjoying playing fantastic football with this team. We are in a really good place at the moment."
That place has only got better after a deserved win over United pushed them closer to a fairytale finale this season, with an FA Cup semi final against Manchester City part of it.
With eight games remaining, they are closing in on the Champions League.
Elanga has played his part with his goals and eight assists, for which he is joint-seventh in the Premier League standings. And he's quick: Before Tuesday's game, the stats showed he had spent 1.17% of his time on the pitch this season sprinting - a Premier League high.
After Tuesday's goal, that figure will undoubtedly have improved.
As Nuno said of his matchwinner: "He did it by himself. There is no better counter-attack. He is a special player."
Analysis by Simon Stone, chief football news reporter
Ralf Rangnick, arriving at Old Trafford to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December 2021, quickly concluded Anthony Elanga had a bright future.
Rangnick clearly knew Elanga had pace - and felt his direct style was a threat to opposition defences, which in turn could create space for others.
Crucially, he also felt Elanga was aware of the space around him and didn't forget his defensive duties, even if his preference was to go forward.
That he featured in 26 out of Rangnick's 29 games in charge says it all about the current Austria coach's view.
Sadly for Elanga, Erik ten Hag had a different outlook.
The Dutchman did not feel Elanga had the quality needed to be enough of an influence on his squad.
That meant he was jettisoned in 2023 after a single campaign under the Dutchman.
The problem was the attacking players who came in the same summer – Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund – have failed to deliver. The wide attacking players United already had – Antony, Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho – were inconsistent at best, Anthony Martial was injured and Marcus Rashford's form fell off a cliff.
Ten Hag's assessment was probably right. United were third then, as Forest are third now. Maybe that is Elanga's level. What he really did not bargain for was the Old Trafford side hurtling backwards at such an alarming rate. Third to them now seems light years away.
