Manchester United won in emphatic style against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League tonight.
However, the big talking point came in the first half when at 0-0, Antony took the ball on his left foot and made two 360 twirls in what was seen as a showboating move before playing a pass beyond his colleague that went out for a goal kick.
Though fans in the stadium cheered his trickery, Erik Ten Hag shook his head disapprovingly.
It was the pundits that really ripped into his antics though as ex-footballer Robbie Savage continued to voice his dismay long after the deed was done.
“It’s quite embarrassing,” he said, “Doing that with nobody near him and then he puts the ball out of play.”
He went on with his rant saying, “If I was the manager, I would not be happy. You’re trying to win the game, move the ball quickly.”
“If I was the manager and he did that again, I would drag him off.”
Sure enough, as the players came on for the second half, Antony had been subbed off.
Fellow pundits joined in berating Antony with United legend Scholes saying, “I don’t know what he is doing, it’s just ridiculous. He is not beating a man, he is not entertaining anybody, then he kicks the ball out.”
He went on to say, “But that is the way he plays but I think he needs that knocking out of him.”
Meanwhile, Owen Hargreaves who was alongside Scholes in the studio added, “If you are going to do it, the final pass has to be good.”
“At 0-0 you don’t do that. I don’t even think you do that when you are three or four goals up, it’s disrespectful.”
Meanwhile, in his post match interview, Ten Hag laughed slightly when asked if that was why he was subbed off at half time before insisting it wasn’t.
After the game Hargreaves continued as he presented on BT Sport, “We all like to see skill but the point is you need to have skill with function.”
Scholes insisted, “I don’t think that is skill or entertainment, that’s just being a clown.”
Either way, United put on a good show tonight and will look forward to the final group game against Real Sociedad.
