Antony couldn’t keep a promise he made to Casemiro during Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Southampton.
Manchester United winger Antony has been left embarrassed after cameras caught him consoling Casemiro in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Southampton. Erik ten Hag’s side dropped two points after the Brazilian received his second straight red card in three Premier League games.
Casemiro lunged into a tackle on Saints midfielder Carlos Alcaraz, making contact above the ball.
It led to VAR Andre Marriner recommending Anthony Taylor change his yellow card decision to more severe punishment.
The 31-year-old looked distraught as South American pals Lisandro Martinez and Antony comforted him before he made the lonely walk down the Old Trafford tunnel.
And in a moment of assurance, the latter appeared to tell Casemiro: “I will win this game for you. I will.”
However, Antony couldn’t make the difference before being substituted with 15 minutes to go as United narrowly escaped defeat against the rock-bottom visitors.
Southampton smelt blood in search of their latest statement win since Ruben Selles replaced Nathan Jones as manager.
Man Utd news: Antony couldn’t win the game for Casemiro. (Image: TWITTER)
David de Gea was forced into a handful of decisive saves, while Kyle Walker-Peters struck the post with an audacious effort.
Bruno Fernandes went closest for United after Gavin Bazunu saved his bending effort onto the inside of the post.
But it wasn’t the Premier League reaction the Red Devils would have wanted after last Sunday’s 7-0 mauling at Liverpool.
After full-time, Ten Hag aimed his frustration at the officials for ignoring a couple of denied United penalty shouts on either side of half-time.
He said: “Casemiro has played over 500 games in Europe. He never had a red card. And now, what is it? In [a few] games and 20 games [in total] in the Premier League, he has two red cards.
Casemiro has seen red in two of his last three Man Utd league games. (Image: Getty)
“His absence is not the issue. We will deal with that. The issue is that this game was influenced by the referee. I said what I said. The refereeing is influencing the game, and we talk about two issues.
“Big compliment to the team. They showed big character. When you [spend] a long time playing with 10 against 11…
“And we played on Thursday. Once again, the team is fit physically and mentally. It was a great performance by our lads, and we could have won this game.”
Man Utd spent a whopping £86m on winger Antony last summer
Former Everton director of football Marcel Brands has labelled the £86million fee Manchester United paid for Antony as a ‘madness’. Brands, who is now in a similar role at PSV, believes Barcelona star Raphinha is ‘much better’ than Antony and pointed out that the former Leeds man moved for far less.
United boss Erik ten Hag was desperate to bring Antony to Old Trafford after making his own move from Ajax last summer. With the Dutch side holding out for a premium fee, the Red Devils were forced to pay nearly £90m for the Brazilian.
Man Utd paid £86m for Antony last summer (Image: Getty)
Brands – who was Everton’s transfer chief when they signed flops Moise Kean and Jean-Philippe Gbamin for a combined £50m – has compared Antony’s move to United with transfers involving Gabriel Jesus and Raphinha. Jesus and Raphinha were far more reputable players back in the summer but went for smaller fees.
“If you compare it with transfers that were realistic, such as that of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City to Arsenal: that was also around that rate,” the 60-year-old told Dutch show The Friday Move.
“Those are normal amounts. I think everyone in football knows that Antony was a madness. I think Raphinha is an even better player than Antony, but he left for much less (£57m).”
Brands was responsible for a couple of big-money failures during his time as Everton director of football. Kean and Gbamin failed to live up to their hype, although the latter’s tough spell was hindered by some cruel injuries.
Fans’ favourites Richarlison and Lucas Digne both arrived under Brands. But his work is generally regarded as being unsuccessful by Everton fans, with him departing in December 2021.
Meanwhile, Antony has endured an inconsistent first season in the Premier League. The 22-year-old has been criticised for not being sufficiently involved in matches, despite scoring seven goals across all competitions.
Man Utd’s £86m signing of Antony has been labelled a ‘madness’ by Marcel Brands (Image: Getty)
Two goals in big European matches against Barcelona and Real Betis have shown glimpses of his potential. Ten Hag has insisted that Antony is not only a good player in the Europa League.
The Dutchman said: “I don’t think he can only do it in the Europa League because he scored in his first three games in the Premier League.
“But in the first half, he could do better to make more actions, be more brave, go more behind, taking players on, more movement, using his speed. The second-half performance was much better, he made a great goal, an important goal.”
Source: express.co.uk;