The Brazilian’s precise shot and Marcus Rashford’s two goals propelled Manchester United to a 3-1 victory on Sunday, ending Arsenal’s undefeated start to the Premier League season. Antony scored on his dream debut for Manchester United.
After joining United boss Erik ten Hag’s previous club Ajax on Thursday in an £82 million move, Antony was making his debut.
Full of flips, trickery, and deliberate movement, the 22-year-old striker gave his new Old Trafford supporters a stunning debut in only 35 minutes by scoring.
Arsenal responded to tie the score with Bukayo Saka, but Rashford stunned the league’s top team by scoring twice in as many second-half minutes after Cristiano Ronaldo took Antony’s place.
United was able to enjoy a fourth straight win, moving them up to fifth position, thanks to Antony and Rashford.
Ten Hag’s reign began with defeats to Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, which was a humiliating experience for him.
Since then, however, the Dutch coach has begun to leave his mark on a United team that seems significantly more disciplined than the disjointed group that placed sixth in the league last season.
The fact that Mikel Arteta’s team suffered their first loss of the season after five straight victories was harsh to them; they gave a lot to an exciting game but paid the price for some sloppy defence.
Gabriel Martinelli outran Diogo Dalot and clipped a beautiful finish over David de Gea in the 12th minute, giving Arsenal the impression that they had suddenly taken the lead.
The referee determined that Martin Odegaard shoved Christian Eriksen in order to take the ball after VAR intervened and asked Paul Tierney to look for a foul in the buildup.
When Rashford’s nimble ball found Antony in the 35th minute, the striker took advantage of Arsenal’s careless marking to sweep a clinical finish into the far corner from eight yards.
In a lavish celebration that brought Old Trafford into raptures, Antony kissed his badge and posed for the cameras. Tierney reprimanded him for shoving the ball up his shirt in front of the Arsenal supporters.
Antony’s confidence was evidently not an issue since he even attempted an outrageous lob that forced Aaron Ramsdale, the goalie for Arsenal, to react quickly.
After 58 minutes, Antony was replaced by Ronaldo to a standing ovation.
Two minutes later, Saka stunned Old Trafford as Arsenal scored a justifiable equaliser.
The United defence was shaken by Odegaard’s pass, and Saka easily buried the ball after Gabriel Jesus was deflected to him by Dalot’s challenge.
But in the 66th minute, United stunned Arsenal with a spectacular counterattack.
Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes were able to play through the Arsenal press, and Rashford was able to beat Ramsdale with a brilliant ball from Bruno Fernandes.
As Arsenal once again left themselves exposed at the back, United sealed the victory with a goal similar to their second, this time Rashford being supplied by Eriksen and converting.
With a 5-2 win against bottom-of-the-table Leicester City in the early game on Sunday, Brighton & Hove Albion continued their stellar start to the year.
Thanks to a second-half surge at the Amex Stadium, Graham Potter’s fourth-placed team improved to four victories from their opening six games.
Leicester took the lead thanks to a goal from Kelechi Iheanacho in the opening minute, but Brighton eventually prevailed thanks to goals from Moises Caicedo and Luke Thomas.
After Brighton’s Leandro Trossard gave them the lead, and Leicester’s Patson Daka restored parity, the struggling visitors crumbled, and Alexis Mac Allister’s two goals completed the rout.
With just one point from their opening six games and five straight losses, Leicester’s manager Brendan Rodgers is under a lot of stress.
If you lack confidence, your game loses its simplicity, according to Rodgers.
“I don’t pay attention to the noise outside. You work hard and don’t avoid your responsibilities.
“I’m responsible for the outcomes. The manager is me. To obtain that first victory, we have to return and work even harder.