Gary Neville challenged Antony to start his Manchester United career as he means to go on - and it is safe to say he delivered after scoring in the Red Devils' 3-1 win over Arsenal.
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 made a bold decision to start Antony, who began on the right hand side of a front three with Jadon Sancho on the left and Marcus Rashford through the middle. Before the game, Neville claimed that it was so important that Antony began his United career on the front foot.
He told Sky Sports: "Well it’s so exciting to see how Antony does today. Seventy-five thousand in this ground looking forward to it. You’d ordinarily say for any new signing, there’s a bedding in period but I think it’s so important Antony starts well in his Manchester United career. Over the last 10 years, the ones who haven’t started well, have struggled to reverse that trend."
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. In the first-half, Antony made five final third passes and conjured-up one big chance, also showing he can create as well as finish. The 22-year-old's debut came to an end in the 58th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo came on in his place.
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On Antony's goal, Neville said: "Well I said he had to have a good start, well he just has. Arsenal have been the better team in the last 15 minutes but this pass from Christian Eriksen is brilliant and it just opens up the game.
"Well done to Paul Tierney he plays the advantage, Rashford, he just knows Anthony is there. It’s on a plate, he goes down early Ramsdale. We mentioned it before the cutting in on the left-foot, it’s a dream position for the Brazilian."
United led until the Gunners levelled just after half-time through Bukayo Saka. But the Red Devils caught Arsenal cold on the counter-attack, with Rashford finishing off a fine move. This was before the 24-year-old sealed the points late on as United moved up to fifth in the table. The Gunners, meanwhile, remain top despite losing their first game of the season.
