Paul Scholes believes that Antony produced his best performance in a Manchester United shirt in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Everton at Old Trafford.
The winger has lacked consistency since joining United from Ajax last summer but showed some tantalising glimpses of what he is capable of as Erik ten Hag’s side produced a dominant display.
United prevailed courtesy of goals from Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial, but Antony also stood out.
Antony’s direct running caused all manner of problems for Everton.
Scholes admitted that he previously considered the 23-year-old to be a ‘one-trick pony’ but he was hugely impressed by his performance.
Paul Scholes says Antony produced his best performance for Manchester United so far
Scholes admitted that he previously thought that Antony was a ‘a bit of a one trick pony’
Speaking on BT Sport, United legend Scholes said: ‘That’s the best game I’ve seen Antony play for United. I thought he was a bit of a one trick pony but he’s learnt to actually run through and he did that a couple of times today.’
United’s victory saw them, temporarily at least, move into third place in the Premier League as they look to secure a top four finish.
Ten Hag’s side are also through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they will face Sevilla, and are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, with Brighton their opponents in that competition.
Although there have been some difficulties for United this season, it could turn out to be a positive campaign, especially when it is taken into consideration that they have already won the Carabao Cup.
Antony’s performance against Everton will have pleased United manager Erik ten Hag.
Antony has scored seven goals in 33 appearances for United so far and he will be determined to finish the season strongly as he looks to help his side achieve their objectives.
Scholes was impressed by United’s overall performance against Everton, although an injury suffered by Marcus Rashford, who has been outsanding this season, sparked some concern.
Commenting on United’s overall performance, Scholes said: ‘Rashford has been brilliant this season. You never quite know with Marcus, he does tend to go down quite a bit with injuries and makes a miraculous recovery. I’m just hoping it’s a bit of fatigue or cramp.
‘United were really dominant, Bruno was as good as I’ve seen him in that deeper role, he controlled play. It was quite a comfortable afternoon for Maguire.’
Martial scored to help Man United rise to 3rd
The French striker shone in MU’s 2-0 win over Everton in the 30th round of the Premier League on the evening of April 8 (Hanoi time).
Everton has not been in good form and has lost a series of pillars because of penalties and injuries, so there is no chance to create a surprise at Old Trafford.
Coach Sean Dyche’s army played with a low formation but still revealed too much space. Opportunities continuously opened up in front of MU players, but in turn Antony, Marcus Rashford, Marcel Sabitzer, Aaron Wan-Bissaka all missed. 12 minutes, Wan-Bissaka surprised fans and experts with the situation of shooting out from a distance of 5m, in front of an empty goal.
MU’s aggressive attack effort was rewarded with the opening goal in the 17th shot from the beginning of the match. The scorer was not a striker but Scott McTominay.
The Scottish central midfielder brought joy to the home fans with a shot past Everton from a tight angle. The first attack belongs to Jadon Sancho, with a slit that tore through the majority of the visitors’ defense.
In the second half, MU still actively pushed the squad to find more goals. In the 61st minute, Anthony Martial was launched into the field. Only 10 minutes later, he made a mark with a double of the gap. Seamus Coleman cut the ball to create the conditions for Rashford to escape, passing just enough for Martial to score his first Premier League goal since December 2022.
Martial has been involved in 12 goals (8 goals, 4 assists) in 16 encounters with Everton.
3 points at home help MU temporarily occupy the 3rd place of Newcastle with 3 more points.
MU’s victory was not complete when Rashford had to leave the field early because of a pain in the thigh area. Fans of “Red Devils” are worried because in the middle of next week, coach Ten Hag’s teachers and students will have a difficult match against Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League first leg.
