Antony immediately promised Manchester United team-mate Casemiro that he would 'win the game' for him after the midfielder was sent off against Southampton.
The Red Devils hosted basement boys the Saints on Sunday afternoon, but were forced to settle for a point. Their hopes of winning the game suffered a hammer blow 11 minutes before the break when Casemiro was shown a straight red card by Anthony Taylor.
The Brazilian had put in an overzealous tackle on Carlos Alcaraz, with his foot catching the Southampton star above the ball. Taylor originally showed a yellow card, but VAR Andre Marriner instructed him to review the decision on the pitchside monitor and send Casemiro off.
The United star was distraught after Taylor pulled out a red card, with Antony and Lisandro Martinez consoling him. Antony grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed at his chest as he appeared to say "I will win this game for you".
The winger repeated his message several times, before Casemiro took a lonely walk down the Old Trafford tunnel. Unfortunately, Antony was not able to follow through on his pledge and was substituted with 15 minutes to go.
The Brazilian winger created two chances, had one shot and won four of his ground duels during his time on the pitch. United were unable to find a way past the Southampton defence, but did hold on to a clean sheet.
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It leaves United 16 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, though they are comfortable in the top four. Boss Erik ten Hag was left furious with Taylor's performance and blasted the referee.
"Casemiro has played over 500 games in Europe. He never had a red card. And now, what is it? In [the space of a few] games and 20 games [in total] in the Premier League, he has two red cards," he said.
"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. That is the refereeing is influencing the game and we talk about two issues.
"Big compliment to the team, they showed big character. When you are 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."
United are not expected to appeal the decision to send off Casemiro, who will now miss their next four games. Keeper David de Gea also questioned the decision to send off Casemiro, insisting his team-mate had been unlucky.
"I think Casemiro was unlucky. He tried to touch the ball and his foot came up high. I think the referees need to show more consistency. Sometimes they show a red card and sometimes they don't," he told Sky Sports.
"It's going to be tough, he's a big player. We will miss him for four games but we have a big squad. We have players coming from the bench who do well. We will keep working hard."
