Manchester United’s lucrative signing from this summer Antony had a debut to remember for the Red Devils. The Ajax recruit was thrown into action right away against Arsenal who visited the Old Trafford on the back of a 100 per cent record in the Premier League. However, it didn’t take the winger much time to get involved in the action as he scored in the 35th minute to put United in front.
Antony opened his account on his debut as he was trusted ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting line-up and he repaid Erik ten Hag’s faith. Ronaldo was named on the bench for the fourth consecutive time by Ten Hag as he opted for a robust attack with young guns in Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony. The Brazilian was then subbed-off in the 68th minute for the Portuguese forward, as he went on to label him his ‘idol’ post game.
Idolo- Antony on Cristiano Ronaldo after thrilling display on debut
Antony enjoyed every bit of his Man United debut as the Red Devils came out with fire in the belly against the Gunners. The Brazilian winger showed flashes of his trickeries right from the first touch as he created a lot of problems from that right flank of United. He finally hit the visitors on their nerve, keeping it calm to curl past a brilliant lay-off from Marcus Rashford.
One of the eye-catching incidents which followed were Cristiano Ronaldo getting on his feet to applaud the 22-year-old. Antony was cheered on by the five-time Ballon d’Or winner with a wide smile after he put United’s noses in front. He then made way for Ronaldo to come on in the 68th minute as the Devils went on to gun down the Gunners 3-1.
Antony did reciprocate the love he got from the 37-year-old, calling him his idol in a social media post on Instagram.
Antony on Instagram ? pic.twitter.com/RZHgqifVBa
— UtdDistrict ? (@UtdDistrict) September 4, 2022
While Antony may have labelled Cristiano Ronaldo his ‘idol’, he had however chosen the Portugal captain’s fiercest rival Lionel Messi over him in an interview long back ago. In his time at Ajax, Antony in an interview was asked to pick the best player after being showed the pictures of Ronaldo and Messi. The Brazilian after a little consideration pointed at the Argentine, who has won a record seven Ballon d’Ors.
It seems Antony has now developed a newly found affection towards his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. The two are yet to share the pitch, but it could soon change as United kick-ff their Europa League campaign this week. Ronaldo has been on the bench for the past four encounters, and is hence expected to take the pitch against Real Sociedad in United’s Europa opener.
Antony too could start his second consecutive game after a blistering performance against the league leaders. It would now be interesting to see how the two will develop a chemistry on the pitch together. Meanwhile, the Red Devils’ other new signings from this summer Casemiro and Martin Dubravka could also be slotted in the starting eleven alongside Antony in the mid-week Europa game.