Antony has explained why he decided to celebrate like a tiger after he scored on his Manchester United debut in their 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday.
The 22-year-old made the £85million switch from Ajax on deadline day and was thrown straight into the deep end by Erik ten Hag as he was named in the starting XI for the game at Old Trafford. It was the only change from the side that beat Leicester City with Anthony Elanga making way, while Casemiro remained on the bench for the third successive game following his big-money move from Real Madrid.
Ten Hag's decision paid off in the end with Antony dazzling on his debut. The Brazilian showed confidence in the opening stages to take the ball in tight areas, pass with precision and cause Oleksandr Zinchenko plenty of issues.
But it wasn't until the half hour mark when he gave United the lead with a pristine piece of quality. A flowing United move finished off with Rashford playing through Antony, who showed great composure to open up his body before side-footing the ball into the bottom corner.
After gesturing at the Manchester United badge, he posed in front of the camera by gesturing a tiger's claws and has explained it was a gesture intended for his friends watching from afar.
He told Man Utd's website : "It's a friends thing. So when I score a goal, my friends know what it is, it's a tiger. They know and that's how I celebrate."
As for how it felt to see the ball hit the back of the net, Antony added: "To score my first goal and share this moment with the crowd, with a great atmosphere, was brilliant.
"From the moment I stepped on to the pitch, I already had goosebumps because I know how much I wanted to be here and I know how much the crowd wanted this.
"When I saw the ball going in, and the net shaking, I express all my feelings the way I did. Yes, it gave me goosebumps for sure."
Ten Hag's front three worked combined well for Antony's strike, with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho both involved in the build-up. Antony has praised the work of the duo for his goal.
"Marcus passed the ball to perfection so when it came [to me], there was not much more I had to do," Antony added.
"I saw the goalkeeper and the ball just came perfectly to me to place it as I did. I was very happy to just go with my instinct. Bruno Fernandes had the ball, I think he shrugged off Gabriel Jesus, and then he touched the ball to Jadon Sancho.
"Sancho made the touch to Marcus and I knew he could slip the ball either way. And when Marcus, being a very intelligent player, realised I could make a run, I just took off. He slipped the ball and I took the chance well."
